Dead End
by The QAS
Summary: An eleven-year-old Annabeth has the adventure of a lifetime. Pre-Lightning Thief
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, it's me again. This story has nothing to do with my other crossover, "A New Twist", whatsoever. This also has a completely different timeline. In my other story, the Harry Potter was thirteen and the Percy Jackson was fifteen/sixteen. In this story, Harry Potter and the gang are in their fifth year at Hogwarts, while Annabeth is only eleven (Percy Jackson is not in the picture yet.) **

**I've been working on this story for months. Some chapters I have written out, while others I haven't even started yet, so updates will not be consistent. Unlike my other story, I have a basic plot for this already planned out. **

**This story is not an AU for either series', which means it will follow the basic story of Order of the Pheonix, but it will be focusing on some of the more marginal characters, as opposed to the golden trio. My goal is to make it as believable as possible for both worlds. **

**So now, without further ado, here is "Dead End":**

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><p>"HIYA!" Annabeth swung her sword, pinning down her opponent with ease. She smirked triumphantly.<p>

Her partner grinned. "Good job," Luke said. He admired Annabeth for many things. She was clever, funny, loyal, and an excellent friend. Yes, that girl had many talents - - however, sword fighting was not one of them. She usually preferred a close up attack with her bronze dagger. Nevertheless, Luke often let her win in duels to make her feel good about herself. Although, self confidence was not exactly something that Annabeth lacked.

Luke looked up at the sky. There was a large bird of some sort, swooping down right near him! As the bird drew closer, Luke was able to recognize the species. "Hey, Annabeth," he said, "Look, there's an owl!"

The daughter of Athena scoffed. "Nice try, Luke. You'll have to come up with something better than that!" she said. "Besides," Annabeth added smugly, "everyone knows that owls are nocturnal."

"No, I'm serious!" he insisted. "There's a huge owl that's literally hovering in the air right behind you!"

"Sure," she said sarcastically, "And there's a hydra under your foot."

"Okay, that doesn't even make any sense!"

"I don't care!" the eleven-year-old demigod folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at him.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Wow," he muttered. "_So_ mature." He continued to stare at the owl. It hadn't moved an inch. He was about to tell Annabeth about it again, but someone else beat him to it.

Ethan Nakamura poked his head out from the Hermes cabin. He was a shy little ten-year-old, who rarely spoke unless Luke was there. The poor kid had been living in the Hermes cabin ever since his father had died three months ago. His mother was still yet to claim him. "Um . . . Annabeth?" he said, "You know that there's an owl right behind you, right?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. She looked at Ethan, than at Luke, then back at Ethan. Slowly, she turned around to face the massive bird. Annabeth had seen owls before, but never such a large one and so close up. She noticed the owl appeared to be holding something in its talons. The owl looked directly at her, and held out his leg, as if expecting her to take it. She stared in awe for several seconds, but it was not long before her curiosity got the better of her. She carefully pulled the mysterious object from the bird's razor sharp claws.

It was a note! Her hands were trembling. Maybe it was a letter from her mother! After all, owls_ were_ symbols of Athena.

But to her dismay, it was not written in Ancient Greek, but rather in English. And not just any English at that; on the back words were written in emerald-green ink in fancy script letters. It took her Dyslexic eyes about two minutes to read the words. They said:

_To Miss Annabeth Chase_

_Age Eleven_

_Camp Half-Blood_

_Long Island, NY, USA_

_Cabin #6 _

"Well that's . . . _specific_," said Luke, who had read it over her shoulder, finishing only a couple seconds after.

Ethan quickly finished reading last. "Do you think it's a trap?" he whispered nervously.

"I'm not sure . . . " said Luke. The eighteen-year-old looked at the paper thoughtfully. "Maybe you should tell Chiron."

"Good idea."

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><p>Annabeth found Chiron in front of the Big House. He was playing cards with Mr. D.<p>

"Chiron, Mr. D?" she asked. "Can I ask you something?"

Mr. D grunted. "Make it quick, Annie. We're kind of in the middle of something here!"

Annabeth clenched her teeth, forcing herself not to yell at the camp director. It was not always easy. Dionysus had it in his mind that he could be a jerk, just because he was . . . well, a god.

She took a deep breath, trying to phrase her words carefully. "Um . . . I just got this note, and . . . " she handed the envelope to Chiron.

The centaur looked at the note. His eyes widened. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.

" Er . . . an owl gave it to me?" now that she had said it out loud, Annabeth realized just how ridiculous it sounded. She felt so stupid! It was probably just some practical joke from the Stoll brothers or something.

But Chiron looked at the letter seriously. Very seriously. He handed the letter to Mr. D and told him to take a look at it.

The god of wine groaned, as he finished reading the back. "Again?" he said. "That blasted Hecate!"

"Hecate?" Annabeth repeated. "What about her?"

Chiron sighed. "Annabeth, go up to the attic and speak to the oracle. When you come down, we will discuss matters further."

Annabeth could hardly believe it. This was it. Her very own quest! This was what she had been waiting for for years! It was finally her turn. Without so much as a second thought, she excitedly ran up the stairs, shaking with anticipation, to confront the oracle and find out her fate.

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><p><strong>The first chapter was bit slow. But I promise it will get better. <strong>

**Any suggestions? Comments? Criticism? Please let me know and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**darklilyofthevalley: Thank you so much!**

**ChickWithThePrupleGuitar: Yes, and thanks.**

**Masterofbugs123: Thank you!**

**max artemis potter: It takes place during Order of the Pheonix**

**Lovetoread98: Thanks!**

**superawesomejennifer-thatme: Yep.**

**vampire chelsey: Thank you!**

**MeggyMooMoo: Thanks! **

**Alright, so from the feedback I got, everybody seemed to like the first chapter. I'm glad. Anyway, this chapter may seem a bit OOC, but I tried my best, and it should only be for this chapter. **

**Read and review!**

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><p><em>"You shall go to a land far across seas<em>

_To a castle of great mysteries._

_Those misunderstood you shall befriend_

_And come to an abrupt dead end." _

Annabeth stood for several seconds, just staring at the mummy in complete awe. This was not what she expected a prophecy to be like. It didn't even sound like a quest at all! Was this some kind of sick joke? Annabeth felt like she was about to cry. This wasn't fair!

She ran down the stairs and over to the Big House to demand to Chiron to tell her what was going on. When she reached him, he and Mr. D. were still staring at the letter, but someone else was with them.

"Mom?" Annabeth breathed.

Athena fixed her intense grey eyes on Annabeth with a face so straight, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. "Annabeth," she said, "did you get this letter?"

"Yes, mother. Why, did you send it?"

The goddess of wisdom shook her head. "No, dear. It does not lie. The letter means exactly as it says."

"Well, what does it say?" Annabeth asked, running out of patience. She was tired of all these riddles. Why was her mother here? What did the prophecy mean? And what was in that letter?

Athena turned around to face Chiron. "You didn't show it to her?" she demanded.

"I figured it would be best to wait until you arrived, my lady."

Athena nodded, "Fair enough." She took the letter off of the table. "I'll just read it to you to save time." She cleared her throat:

"_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_  
><em>(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,<em>  
><em>Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)<em>

_Dear Miss Chase,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._  
><em>Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.<em>

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall_  
><em>Deputy Headmistress<em>," Athena pulled out another two pieces of paper. "This is a list of all of everything you will need."

Annabeth stared at her mother blankly, trying to take it all in. It was a lot. Was this for real? "Wait, hold on," she said. "Slow down, what . . . what does this all mean? Am I a wizard?"

"A witch actually," Chiron said.

Mr. D. grunted, "you got that right." Everyone glared at him, and he quickly shut up.

"So . . . do I go to this place? I mean, where is it?"

"England, actually," Chiron gave her a slightly sheepish (or horse-ish) smile. "It's a boarding school."

Annabeth felt her stomach turn in knots. "England? Boarding school? No way! I am NOT going!" Were they crazy? She didn't know anything about this place. It could've been ran by monsters for all she knew! She shuddered at the very thought.

Athena looked at her daughter very seriously. "There is a reason why we need you to go there," she said. "We have recently received urgent news that the wizarding world is in danger of a war." Annabeth blinked. How did this concern her? "If that were to happen, chaos would rise and millions of innocent people would be in danger. But it would not stop there. If the war were to continue, it would eventually reach across seas and into America." Annabeth's eyes widened. How did her mother know this? She did not doubt Athena, she was the goddess of wisdom, after all. "Your job is to find out any information you can about this war."

Annabeth was stunned. "But . . . how can mortals have magic?"

"Long ago, our old friend, Hecate, decided to have a little fun with the mortals," Chiron said. "She gave them a little bit of magic to of their own. Some of it was given directly to people, and some of it escaped. Over many centuries, the people grew into a race of their own. They no longer remember Hecate bringing it to them, since it was so long ago."

"But how do you know who has it?"

"Some people are born with it, but every now and then, a bit of the magic that has escaped goes to somebody else. You, Annabeth, are one of those few."

Annabeth still did not fully understand. She always imagined being excited for her first quest, but she wasn't. She was scared. Annabeth didn't want to do it. "Why do I have to go to the school? Why can't it be somebody else?"

"Because the school only allows wizards and witches inside," said Mr. D. He paused, then added, "duh."

Annabeth gulped. "But . . . but how do you know I will be successful?"

"We don't," said Athena. Oh, how reassuring. "But I have faith in you, Annabeth. If anyone could do it, it would be you. You are _my_ daughter, after all."

Annabeth felt a warm sense of glowing pride. Her mother believed in her, so why shouldn't she? Annabeth thought for a moment, then said bravely. "I will do it."


	3. Chapter 3

**darklilyofthevalley: Yeah, I usually make my prophecies way too long, but this time I managed to keep it short. Thanks for noticing.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Thank you, I tried to make the backstory believable. I'm glad you liked it!**

**And thank you to my other reviewer for the previous chapter, MeggyMooMoo and Masterofbugs123.**

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><p>The next day, Annabeth was ready to go. She had said good-bye to everybody, and was fully packed. She waited by the camp's entrance for Chiron. When he showed up, Annabeth said the question that had been bothering her all morning: "How will I get to England?" An eleven-year-old can't exactly just get onto a plane without any questions. Plus, there were plenty of dangerous mortals out there, and while her bronze dagger may have been useful on monsters, it would go right through mortals, as if they weren't there.<p>

"I'm having an old friend of mine meet you," the centaur explained. Then, as if right on cue, a man appeared right in front of them. He appeared to be very old, with a long, white beard. The man wore glasses shaped like semi-circles, and had bright blue eyes that seemed to be full of life, despite his old age. "Ah, Albus. Good to see you again," the man shook his hand. "Annabeth, this is my good friend, Professor Albus Dumbledore. He's the headmaster of Hogwarts."

Annabeth nodded politely. "Nice to meet you, sir," she said.

"He will be taking to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies," he told her.

"But how did he get in?" Annabeth demanded. "I thought mortals can't see the camp!"

"Most cannot," Chiron agreed, "but Dumbledore is not just any mortal. He's not just any wizard, either. He is aware of the gods and half-bloods, but no other wizards is, so . . . um . . . don't be advertising that you're the daughter of Athena. As for your other question, I gave him permission to enter."

Dumbledore nodded. "Are you ready to go, Annabeth?" his voice was deep and wise.

Annabeth nodded confidently. "Sure!"

"Take my hand," the professor said. Annabeth looked a bit nervously at Chiron, but the centaur nodded calmly, and she took it. And in a loud CRACK! the two were gone.

They reappeared in the middle of a street that Annabeth did not recognize. "Wha-what in Hades' name was that?"

"That is called apperating," Dumbledore explained. "You'll learn to do it when you are older."

"Cool!"

Dumbledore nodded, "follow me," he said, leading Annabeth into a bar. Annabeth, having no other choice, followed the strange man into the pub.

A girl, around fifteen, nodded politely to them. Her long dark hair was in a long French braid down her back, it bobbed up and down when she nodded. Annabeth guessed, due to her dark complexion and accent, was Indian. "Good day, Professor. Did you have a nice summer?" the girl asked.

"I did, thank you," Dumbledore said. "And I hear you have been chosen to be Ravenclaw's new prefect?"

The girl blushed slightly. "Yes, sir."

"Excellent. Well, as prefect, I will now give you your first responsibility," he motioned to Annabeth. "This is Annabeth Chase, she is a first from America and needs someone to show her around and help her get set up. Do you think you are up to the challenge?"

Annabeth looked confused. "You mean, you're not taking me?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid now. I have to get to the castle early for some last minute preparations before the school year." and with that, he disappeared with a loud CRACK!

"Why are we in a bar?" asked Annabeth, "I'm too young to drink." She had once tried wine before. It had tasted horrible! Just thinking about it made her want to gag.

Padma laughed. "We're not here to drink," she said, leading her to the back of the pub. She pulled out a wand and tapped the bricks in a specific order. Annabeth tried to memorize it, in case she would need to know it for later. What happened then astonished her. The bricks began to move, they left a large gagging hole that had to be at least seven feet tall! She made a mental note that if she ever was to design a building, she should put something like that in.

They stepped outside, and Annabeth peered around. They appeared to be in some sort of market. There were shops everywhere, and lots of people walking around. Most people wore long, black capes. Some even had pointy hats.

"Alright, let's get started!"

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><p>Robes, a cauldron, and her school books, were easy enough to find. As they shopped, Padma explained some basic things about Hogwarts. She explained about the four houses, some of the classes and teachers, and a bit about the famous Gryffindor boy, Harry Potter. Annabeth listened intently to every word, and asked the occasional question.<p>

Padma glanced at the supplies list. "Alright, so the last thing you need is a wand," she said. Padma pointed to a shop across the street. "Go in there, Olivander is the best wand maker in existence. I have some shopping to do of my own. When you're done, meet me here, got it?"

Annabeth nodded, and stepped into Olivander's Wand Shop. A boy around her age was standing at the counter, and an old man stood behind it. There was a large pile of boxes to the boy's left. She cleared her throat. "Um . . . excuse me?" she said. The man looked at her, and the boy turned around. "Are you Mr. Olivander?" she asked.

"Yes," the man said. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Annbeth Chase," she said, "I'm new here and I need a wand."

"Very well, Annabeth," Olivander said, "I will see what I can do. I shall be back in a moment." He turned to the boy. "Just keep waving," he told him.

The boy looked a bit suspicious. "How will I know when I have the right one?"

"You will know." Was all he said, and then disappeared into the back of the shop.

"Hi," the boy said to Annabeth, "I'm Vaisey. Aleron Vaisey." Vaisey had medium-brown hair, and hazel eyes. He wore new, very expensive-looking robes. He waved a wand around, accidently shattering a window in the process. "Oops," he blushed. "Err . . . that never happened." He smiled a bit sheepishly.

Olivander returned shortly with a large stack of boxes. "Try this," he told Annabeth, handing her a wand. It was light brown in color and was heavy in weight. "Ash, eight and a half inches, dragon heartstring, somewhat springy."

Annbeth, mimicked what Vaisey had done, and waved it around. A shelf collapsed. "I think this wand is broken," she said.

"No, it is perfectly normal," Olivander said, "try this." He handed her a dark brown wand that was somewhat heavier than the last one. "Wenge, eleven inches, unicorn hair, reasonably flexible." Annabeth waved it, the same thing happened. "Alright, apparently not."

"Hey!" Vaisey cried excitedly, "I think I found it! Look!" he waved a wand and fireworks shot out.

"Sweet!" Annabeth shouted.

Olivander took the wand and studied it. "Mahogany, eleven point nine centimeters, Chimaera scale, somewhat pliable. This is a powerful wand, use it well," he said.

Vaisey nodded, grabbing the wand greedily. "See you, Annabeth!" he called, and dashed out the door.

Annabeth tried at least a dozen wands before finding her match: Bloodwood, ten inches, Phoenix feather, slightly flexible. When she left the shop, Annabeth found Padma Patil waiting for her.

"Took you long enough," she huffed. "Now," she said, scanning the list. "That's everything you need. But if want, you can get a pet. How do you feel about owls?"

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><p><strong>It should be noted that Olivander used inches when speaking to Annabeth because she was American. <strong>

**It starts getting better in the next chapter. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**darklilyofthevalley: Yes, he will.**

**Owlgrrl: Thank you.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: He's actually only mentioned like once in the sixth book by Ron. We don't know his first name, so I made it up.**

**MeggyMooMoo: Their fifth.**

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><p>"Admete?"<p>

"Yeah, Admete," Annabeth said, "it's Greek for 'Untamed'. I think it fits her personality perfectly. Doesn't it, girl?" Annabeth cooed, scratching the female tawny on her head. "Beautiful, isn't she? I love Tawny owls."

"Sure," Padma said. "Anyway, we best be getting to King's Cross. The train leaves at elven o'clock sharp. If we're even one minute late, we'll miss the train!"

Annabeth nodded. "Okay. Come on, Admete, let's go!"

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><p>King's Cross was extremely crowded with muggles and wizards alike. Annabeth glanced at her ticket oddly. At first she thought it was just her Dyslexic mind playing tricks on her, but the more she looked at it, the more she was convinced it was right. "Um . . . Padma?" she asked.<p>

The fifth-year glanced at her, only half paying attention. "Yeah?"

"This ticket says we have to get on to platform nine and three quarters . . . "

"I know what it says," Padma waved her hand dismissively, not wanting to discuss the matter any further. "You'll see soon enough." She glanced around a couple times, finally, seeing what she was looking for. "Oi, Hannah, Ernie! Over here!"

Two other kids came over. They looked about Padma's age. One was a boy, one was a girl. They were both already dressed in her Hogwarts robes, proudly showing off their prefect badges. The girl grinned. "Padma!" she cried, running over to hug her friend. "Did you get my owl? I'm a prefect now!" she bounced up and down excitedly, as if she was on a caffeine-high.

The boy smiled at Padma, and pointed to the girl. "Mental, this one," he said, jokingly.

Padma laughed.

"Who's that?" asked the girl, pointing towards Annabeth.

"Oh, that's Annabeth," Padma said, seeming to have forgotten that she was there. "Annabeth, these are my friends, Hannah Abbott, and Ernie MacMillan. Guys, this is Annabeth, she's a first-year from the States, and I was helping her out."

The two nodded politely towards Annabeth, and in return she gave them a somewhat-shy smile. "So . . . how do we get on to platform nine and three quarters?" she asked.

Ernie laughed. "That's easy. You just run straight through platforms nine and ten."

"You mean I run into a wall?" Annabeth was doubtful. She had seen a lot of amazing sights over the past couple days, but nothing she had seen could make her believe that she could run through a wall. "Is this a joke?"

"Nope, no joke," the boy said. "Here, I'll show you." He grabbed his cart, and pushing it in front of him, ran straight towards the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. Annabeth gasped. Ernie had vanished into the wall!

Hannah followed him, and disappeared as well.

"Where did they go?" Annabeth asked.

"Don't worry," said Padma, "they're on the platform. Come on, let's go."

"But what . . . what if something goes wrong?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"It won't," Padma reassured her with a confident smile. "Now, look around you and make sure that no muggles are watching before you go. Alright . . . NOW!"

Annabeth sprinted forward. "I must be crazy," she whispered, but continued running towards the wall. She shut her eye, expecting a crash any second. There wasn't one. When Annabeth finally opened them, she was shocked. In front of her were hundreds of people in robes, all rushing towards a train. Annabeth grinned; she had made it!

Padma followed shortly after. "Good job. Alright, now just get onto the train."

"You won't be coming with me?"

"No. Prefects ride in their own special carriage. I'm meeting Anthony there."

"Oh. Okay," Annabeth said, trying not to show her disappointment too much.

"Hey, it's alright. You'll be fine," Padma said.

Annabeth nodded. She hoped so.

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><p>Annabeth sat in an empty compartment, staring out the window. She reached into her bag and pulled out a Greek book on architecture. It always amazed her what people could build when they put their minds to it. She was just reading a passage about the Chicago Sears Tower when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in," Annabeth said, not really paying attention.<p>

Two boys stepped inside the compartment. She recognized one of them to be Vaisey. Vaisey was with another boy who looked slightly older. He was tall and muscular, like a football player, but he didn't look older than twelve or thirteen.

"Excuse me," Vaisey said, "can we . . . oh, hey, Annabeth. Can we sit here?"

"Sure, go ahead," Annabeth said, trying to sound casual, but she was secretly relieved to see a face she knew. She turned to the other boy. "Hi, I'm Annabeth," she said. "Who are you?"

"Thaddeaus Urquhart," the boy said.

Aleron grinned. "Thaddeaus plays for the Slytherin quidditch team. He's going to be captain this year, since Flint graduated."

Annabeth smiled. She had heard about quidditch when Padma was explaining the basics of the wizard world to her. She also knew what Slytherin was, it was, according to Padma when she was explaining the houses to her, "the house for the evil, twisted gits". Annabeth shrugged that bit of information off, Aleron seemed nice enough. She had looked it up later on the train in a book she had gotten called "Hogwarts: A History". She was glad they had the book in Greek.

"How do you two know each other?" Annabeth asked.

"Urquhart and I grew up together in the same area. He's a third year. So what house do you want to get put into?" asked Aleron mildly, changing the subject.

"I don't know to tell you the truth," Annabeth shrugged. "I'm hoping for Ravenclaw, but I suppose Gryffindor wouldn't be too bad."

Thaddeaus and Aleron laughed. "Yeah," Urquhart said, "if you want to be in a house full of blood traitors and mudbloods! I mean, every pureblood in their right mind knows that Slytherin is the best house. You _are_ a pureblood, right?"

Annabeth squirmed a bit in her seat, once again, silently thanking the gods that she had begun reading _Hogwarts: A History_. She had to come up with something, and fast! She tried to come up with some sort of believable lie, when she realized that she didn't have to lie at all. "I'm a half-blood."

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><p><strong>So? What do you think? Good? Bad? Okay? Let me know!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**max artemis potter: You'll see.**

**darklilyofthevalley: Thanks, I tried to find a name in Greek that would fit an owl's personality. I don't think it gets much better than "untamed". **

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Good question. They will be showing up occasionally, but mostly they'll just be spoken about. I haven't decided yet if Annabeth ever speaks to them. **

**MeggyMooMoo and lovetoread98: Thank you, I'm glad you guys like it!**

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><p>Vaisey looked at Thaddeaus hesitantly, as if not sure how to respond.<p>

The older boy, however, seemed much more confident. "On which side?" he asked her.

"My mom's. I grew up as a muggle, but eventually ran away from my dad's place when I was seven," she said, keeping as close to the truth as possible. "I met up with a couple of friends, and we sort of . . . made a family of our own." Was it believable? She hoped they would buy it. Something told her that these were not the kind of people you wanted on your bad side.

Vaisey, seeing that this was a sensitive subject, looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I-I didn't know."

Even Urquhart seemed to soften up a bit. "Yeah, well . . . at least you're not a mudblood. I best be going. I have some Gryffindors to . . . um . . . talk to . . ." Thaddeaus said, as he left the compartment.

"What about you?" Annabeth asked curiously. "Are you a pureblood?"

"Of course!" Aleron said, looking slightly offended. "My family has been all pure-bloods for generations," he said, with a slight bragging tone to his voice. He smirked. "We only accept the best, after all."

"I'm guessing they've all been Slytherins, too."

"That's right. Like I said, only the best, and Slytherin is the best house." Annabeth nodded, pretending to listen as he went on and on about his family history. Then, he asked a question that got her attention. "What about you?" he asked, "What house was your mum in?"

Annabeth hesitated. "My mom didn't go to Hogwarts," she said.

"Ah," Vaisey nodded, "I guess you Yanks don't have houses at your school, do you? That's what makes Hogwarts unique, I suppose. Last year we had students from other schools to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. They were from Beaubaxtons, that's in France. And from Durmstrang, which is in either Germany, Bulgaria, or Norway. Nobody really knows for sure - - except for the students, that is."

"What's a Triwizard Tournament?" Annabeth asked.

Aleron's eyes widened in shock. "You don't know what . . . oh, that's right. You grew up as a muggle, my bad. Well, the tournament is this contest between three wizards, each from a different school. The thing is that the game was really violent. Many people have died over the years. Personally, I think that those who had died just weren't skilled enough, and that it was their own bloody fault! But apparently, the wizard board decided that it was 'too violent'," Vaisey bent his fingers dramatically to make air quotes, "but last year, they tried it again."

"What happened? Did anyone die?" Annabeth had to know.

Vaisey grinned, seeming to like the attention. "Well, they tried to make the games 'more safe'," he said, again with air quotes, "and they failed. I don't know exactly what happened, 'cause I wasn't there. My brother told me the basics. Here's what I know: even there were only supposed to be three contestants, there was a fourth last year. And, of course, that had to be _Harry Potter_," he sneered as he said the name, making it sound like some kind of disease. "As it turned out, someone had entered his name in tournament to kill him!" Annabeth was shocked. And her face must have shown it, because Aleron grinned. "And then he was forced to participate, even though he was underage."

"Didn't he tell them that he didn't enter?"

"Of course! But he had no choice. Once you are entered, there's some sort of magical spell put on you that doesn't allow you to back out," he shrugged. "I don't really know. I've just heard stuff. But it seems like Potter is either desperate for attention, or is the unluckiest guy on the planet."

Annabeth looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, he destroyed You-Know-Who when he was a baby, which automatically gave him some major brownie points in the wizard world," Annabeth nodded, she knew that. "But it appears that every year at Hogwarts, he does something extraordinary. In his first year, he stopped the Dark Lord from getting the Philosopher's Stone, which can make anyone immortal."

"I don't get it," Annabeth said. She hated admitting that, but she was lost. "I thought You-Know-Who was dead."

"He isn't - - or at least that's what Potter and that fool Dumbledore claim," he shrugged. "The Daily Prophet denies the whole thing. Anyway, us Slytherins had technically won the House Cup that year, but _no_, Dumbledore's favorite boy earned his house an extra hundred and seventy points, even after the final tally was counted," he pouted, slightly, then returned back to normal. "In his second year, there were a bunch of attacks on students and Hogwarts almost get closed down. The attacks were rumored to have come from a place called 'The Chamber of Secrets', and of course, Potter and his friends went down and found it. They slaughtered the monster that was down there, and saved the castle. And in his third year, there was an escape from Azkaban."

"Azka-what?"

"Azkaban, it's wizard prison. Anyway, there was a breakout from the place, by a guy named Sirius Black. He was said to have been like this huge follower of You-Know-Who, and was out to kill Harry."

"What happened to him?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing. He's still out there."

Annabeth could definitely what Vaisey meant. "Wow, trouble does seem to follow this guy!"

"Oh, and it gets better. Last year was perhaps the biggest scandal of all. As you know, he was entered in the Triwizard Tournament, even though he was at least three years younger than all of the other contestants. He managed to make it through every task, and was tied for first place with the other Hogwarts champion, a Hufflepuff boy named Cedric Diggory. What happened next is uncertain, as the two boys reached the end of the last task, which was an obstacle course, something was terribly wrong. We only have Potter's claims, but it seemed good enough for Dumbledore," he rolled his eyes, muttering "big surprise" under his breath, "Harry said that You-Know-Who came back to life that night, and murdered Diggory."

Vaisey was good at story-telling, he would wave his hands with dramatic jesters as he spoke, and always had confidence when telling a tale. He could have a future career in theater, Annabeth thought.

Turning back to the subject, she looked at Vaisey oddly. "And the Ministry doesn't believe him?"

"They claim the Hufflepff boy's death was a 'horrible accident', and most seem to believe that, too. They're all just too scared to face the truth."

"So, do **you** believe he's back?" asked Annabeth quietly.

Aleron leaned forward and spoke in a hushed whisper, "Yes, I do."

* * *

><p><strong>Annabeth's going off topic and saying that Aleron would be good at preforming arts, was part of her ADHD. I have it, too, and will often think the randomest (is that even a word?) things while others are speaking.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Oh, thanks for letting me know. It was a mistake. In the original drafts I had Harper and Vaisey with reverse roles, I guess I just copied it down incorrectly. Anyway, thanks again. **

**darklilyofthevalley: I was thinking the same thing. You'll find out in the next chapter what I eventually decided. **

**And also a big thank you to my other reviewers: max artemis potter, Cookie05, and Masterofbugs123. I'm glad you guys like it!**

* * *

><p>The rest of the ride was silent. Annabeth sketched some building ideas, while Aleron read his book. But Annabeth was only half paying attention to her fortress. She simply couldn't get that thought out of her head. If the Dark Lord was back, then there probably<em> would<em> be a war. This must have been what her mother was talking about.

When the exited the train, Annabeth saw a woman call, "First-years, over here. Follow me, please." She glanced at Vaisey, who shrugged, and decided to follow her.

Annabeth looked around. There was a total of about twenty first-years. She had imagined more. After all, Hogwarts: A History said that each year averages at about one hundred and forty four students per year. This wasn't one hundred and forty four - - not even close!

Aleron, seeming to read her mind, frowned. "I thought there would be more. My brother said that there was at least a hundred in his year." He scanned the area with his eyes, as if expecting eighty students to pop out from the bushes. He shook his head. "Weird," he muttered.

A boy who had apparently heard their previous conversation, turned around to face them. "That's because everyone's parents are too scared to send their kids away, you know, with the whole rumored return of the Dark Lord and all," he said, with a slight bragging tone in his voice, as if he believed that he was smarter than everyone else. "Even some of those who don't believe he's back aren't sending their children to Hogwarts because the Daily Prophet is going on about how Dumbledore is insane. Who could blame them? What kind of parent would want their kid going to a school that's being ran by a nutcase?" he smirked. "_My_ parents, that's who. I suspect they just wanted me out of the house." He grinned broadly, as if that were the cleverest joke in the world. He looked around, expecting everybody to laugh.

"I don't blame them," Annabeth whispered to Aleron, who smirked.

"Anyway, Vaisey, aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend here?"

Vaisey scowled. "Annabeth, this is my neighbor, Forrest Harper. He has . . . issues."

Harper raised an eyebrow. "_Issues_?" he repeated. "Such as?"

"Not knowing when to shut up," replied Aleron smugly.

* * *

><p>Although Annabeth was aware of the Sorting Hat, nothing could have possibly prepared her for this. The hat opened wide like a mouth and began to sing. Yes, sing. It was so random, Annabeth had to bite her tongue to stop herself from bursting into hysterical laughter.<p>

_In times of old, when I was new,_  
><em>And Hogwarts barely started,<em>  
><em>The founders of our noble school<em>  
><em>Thought never to be parted. <em>

_United by a common goal,_  
><em>They had the selfsame yearning<em>  
><em>To make the world's best magic school<em>  
><em>And pass along their learning.<em>

_"Together we will build and teach"_  
><em>The four good friends decided.<em>  
><em>And never did they dream that they<em>  
><em>Might some day be divided.<em>

_For were there such friends anywhere_  
><em>As Slytherin and Gryffindor?<em>  
><em>Unless it was the second pair<em>  
><em>Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,<em>

_So how could it have gone so wrong?_  
><em>How could such friendships fail?<em>  
><em>Why, I was there, so I can tell<em>  
><em>The whole sad, sorry tale. <em>

_Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_  
><em>Whose ancestry's purest."<em>  
><em>Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose<em>  
><em>Intelligence is surest."<em>

_Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_  
><em>With brave deeds to their name."<em>  
><em>Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot<em>  
><em>And treat them just the same."<em>

_These differences caused little strife_  
><em>When first they came to light.<em>  
><em>For each of the four founders had<em>  
><em>A house in which they might<em>

_Take only those they wanted, so,_  
><em>For instance, Slytherin<em>  
><em>Took only pure-blood wizards<em>  
><em>Of great cunning just like him.<em>

_And only those of sharpest mind_  
><em>Were taught by Ravenclaw<em>  
><em>While the bravest and the boldest<em>  
><em>Went to daring Gryffindor.<em>

_Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest_  
><em>and taught them all she knew,<em>  
><em>Thus, the houses and their founders<em>  
><em>Maintained friendships firm and true.<em>

_So Hogwarts worked in harmony_  
><em>for several happy years,<em>  
><em>but then discord crept among us<em>  
><em>feeding on our faults and fears. <em>

_The Houses that, like pillars four_  
><em>had once held up our school<em>  
><em>now turned upon each other and<em>  
><em>divided, sought to rule.<em>

_And for a while it seemed the school_  
><em>must meet an early end.<em>  
><em>what with dueling and with fighting<em>  
><em>and the clash of friend on friend.<em>

_And at last there came a morning_  
><em>when old Slytherin departed<em>  
><em>and though the fighting then died out<em>  
><em>he left us quite downhearted.<em>

_And never since the founders four_  
><em>were whittled down to three<em>  
><em>have the Houses been united<em>  
><em>as they once were meant to be.<em>

_And now the Sorting Hat is here_  
><em>and you all know the score:<em>  
><em>I sort you into Houses<em>  
><em>because that is what I'm for.<em>

_But this year I'll go further,_  
><em>listen closely to my song:<em>  
><em>though condemned I am to split you<em>  
><em>still I worry that it's wrong,<em>

_Though I must fulfill my duty_  
><em>and must quarter every year<em>  
><em>still I wonder whether sorting<em>  
><em>may not bring the end I fear.<em>

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_  
><em>the warning history shows,<em>  
><em>for our Hogwarts is in danger<em>  
><em>from external, deadly foes<em>

_And we must unite inside her_  
><em>or we'll crumble from within<em>  
><em>I have told you, I have warned you...<em>  
><em>let the Sorting now begin.<em>

"Well, that was cheerful," she muttered.

Everyone clapped once the hat was finished. Annabeth shrugged and joined in.

A woman, whom had introduced herself to be Professor McGonagall, cleared her throat and pulled out a roll of parchment. "Abercrombie, Euan," she said in a heavy Scottish accent.

A small boy with rather large ears slowly walked up to the stool where the hat rested. McGonagall placed the hat on the boy's head. It was far too big on him and covered almost his entire head. It was a rather comical sight to watch. The only thing keeping the hat from falling to Euan's shoulders was his enormous ears.

Everyone watched quietly for a about a minute, and then the hat suddenly shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Abercrombie's tie changed from black to red and gold stripes. The inside of his robes changed as well, to the same rich scarlet color, as he made his way over to the Gryffindor table.

"Chase, Annabeth," the woman called.

For a second, Annabeth froze, too shocked to move even a single muscle. Curse her father for having to have a name that started with the third letter of the alphabet.

Vaisey gave her a small, encouraging push. He gave her a thumbs up.

Annabeth gave him a shaky smile back, as she slowly made her way up to the stool. She shut her eyes as McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on her head . . .

* * *

><p><strong>The complete plot of this story is not yet set in stone, so if any of you have any suggestions, that would be great. I can't promise I will use them, but I'll take them into serious consideration. Please let me know in your reviews!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**max artemis potter: You'll see**

**ChickWithThepurpleGuitar: Hmm . . . interesting. Well, Annabeth can be cunning and manipulative when she wants to be. Plus, she has been spending an awful lot of time with the Slytherins. Ypu'll see what I eventually decided. **

**Glass of Water: I'm not entirely sure, but if he does it will be very brief and toward the end.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe, darklilyofthevalley, and Cookie05 thank you for reviewing as well. And yes, I did leave a cliffhanger on purpose. I am so evil! Muah-ha-ha!**

* * *

><p><em>What's this? A demigod? It has been a while since I had one of you!<em>

"Wha- - who said that?" Annabeth demanded.

_It is I. That hat whose song you found to be quite . . . disturbing. You know I worked all year on that song. It would be nice if you showed me at least a little appreciation!_

_Wait, you can read my mind?_ Annabeth thought.

_Of course I can._

_Can the others hear you?_

_No._

_Oh . . . okay._

_Hmm . . . you are quite clever I see. Not low in the bravery department. Extremely hard-working. Yet also cunning and manipulative if you want to be. This is difficult indeed. I do not think that Hufflepuff would suit you, but you would be welcomed into the other three with open arms. That is, until they find out you have dyslexia, and they shun you out._

_Gee, thanks._

_I am just saying it like it is. You could achieve great things in any house, but when it comes to acceptance, due to the fact that you are not pure-blood, I don't think that Slytherin is the house for you. So that leaves . . ._

_Ravenclaw and Gryffindor._

_Indeed. I see that you would not mind being in either of those houses, which only makes my job harder, thank you very much! But when it comes down to it, your intelligence overrules everything. That can only mean one thing . . ._

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat cried.

Annabeth grinned, as he robes changed, adding a bit of color to the uniform. She liked it much better this way. She smiled and ran over to the Ravenclaw table, where she saw Padma waving to her.

Padma was sitting next to a boy she did not recognize. Fortunately, he introduced himself right away.

"Hi," the boy said with a good-natured grin. "I'm Anthony Goldstein," he extended his hand which Anthony gratefully took. "I'm a house prefect, so if there's anything you need, please let me know."

Annabeth nodded, and took a seat. She pulled out a small sketchpad from her pocket and continued to work on the design. Annabeth was careful to keep the book in her lap so that no one would see. She wasn't sure how strict Hogwarts was when it came to table manners, but she didn't want to risk having it confiscated.

Slowly, Annabeth began to zone out until she heard the name. "Vaisey, Aleron."

Annabeth turned to see Vaisey hesitantly step up to the stool to be sorted. The hat shouted out, almost instantaneously, "SLYTHERIN!"

The table on the far side of the room clapped. Annabeth joined in on the applause for her friend. She soon realized that nobody else was doing so.

One girl sitting across from her said, "Why are you clapping, stupid? They're Slytherins!"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't care if he's a Slytherin. I am clapping because he is my friend, and wanted to get into that house and I am happy for him," she told the girl.

The girl gave her a look and rolled her eyes.

Anthony nudged Annabeth, "watch this," he said, "it's really cool." Goldstein pointed towards Professor Dumbledore, who clapped and said a couple of words that she could not quite make out. Suddenly, the empty plates on the tables filled with food.

Annabeth grinned broadly, helping herself to two large drumsticks. She had not realized just how hungry she was until she took the first bite. Annabeth stuffed her face with everything in sight, not caring that it made her look like a pig.

She stiffened, looking at the last piece of steak thoughtfully. She turned to Padma, "where's the bathroom?" she asked.

Padma directed her to the closest girl's lavatory. Annabeth thanked her and waited until she had left.

Annabeth quickly took off a torch from one of the walls, she threw her steak into the fire and whispered, "For my mother, Athena."

* * *

><p>When Annabeth had returned to her seat, the headmaster was speaking to the room.<p>

" . . . Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundredth and sixty-second time, to remind you all magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have two changes in staff this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons," Annabeth noted that most students looked relieved at that statement, except for a couple of Gryffindors. She wondered why that was. "We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the - - "

"Hem, hem," Professor Umbridge said, getting to her feet, making it clear that he wanted to make a speech.

Annabeth looked around to see the others' reactions. Some looked horrified. Others appeared bemused. All, however, seemed surprised. Dumbledore striked Annabeth as someone who was highly respected. And from the looks of it, she was right: Dumbledore was not the kind of guy who was often interrupted.

If she had any doubts, they were confirmed by a boy sitting next to Anthony, who muttered, "_This_ ought to be interesting!"

Annabeth glanced at Dumbledore to see what he would do. The man looked a bit surprised, but nodded at her and sat down politely.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Umbridge said, "for those kind words of welcome. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!" Everyone stared at her blankly. Umbridge did not seem to notice, "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

A bunch of students exchanged looks at that. Anthony snorted. "Obviously, she doesn't know the first thing about Hogwarts."

Umbridge "cleared her throat" again. "Hem, hem. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you are born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills, unique to the wizarding community must be passed down through the generations . . .

Annabeth, like so many others, felt no need to listen to the rest of her speech. She zoned out and tried her best to focus on her sketch. The lady's voice droned on and on for what seemed like forever. And it was not just her ADHD mind.

" . . . Let us move forward then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent of preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning whether we find practices that ought to be prohibited." She sat down, not appearing to notice that about half of the room was asleep.

Dumbledore said, "thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he bowed politely towards her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held . . . . "

Annabeth turned to Anthony, who had a horrified expression on his face. "What did it mean?" Annabeth asked.

The older boy shook his head. "It means, that the Ministry is going to interfere with Hogwarts."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I put her in Ravenclaw. I know a lot of you were expecting Gryffindor (and even one Slytherin) but, let's be honest, guys, how could a child of Athena NOT get into Ravenclaw? I just feel like it fits Annabeth's personality best. <strong>

**Anthony Goldstein is a real Harry Potter character. He is one of Ravenclaw's prefects in his fifth year, and joins Dumbledore's Army with his best friends, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot. **

**If any of you guys want to see Annabeth interact with a certain character, you can let me know in your reviews. I would prefer it to be more of a minor character. But please, try to be realistic. **

**Even if you don't have any ideas or suggestions, it would be great if you reviewed. I really want to know what people think of this story.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Fantasy-Mania31: Thank you.**

**darklilyofthevalley: I like it!**

**Cookie05: I actually saw again recently as well, with my little sister. Luna is awesome, I agree. Annabeth will definitely interact with her, since they are both in the same House.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Her name is Marietta Edgecombe. She was actually the obnoxious Ravenclaw who scolded Annabeth for clapping for a Slytherin. She will make other appearances in the story. As for Luna, yes, she is in Ravenclaw.**

**Unnamed-Anonymous-Reviewer: Yes, Annabeth does become much more Gryffindor-like in the later Percy Jackson books. At the beginning, she is mostly a cocky, little kid, who thinks she is always right (and normally is.) **

* * *

><p>Padma lead the Ravenclaw girls up to their dorms, while Anthony lead the boys. Annabeth was the only first-year to be sorted into Ravenclaw, so she was sharing one with the second-year girls. She didn't understand why she couldn't get a dorm to herself. Anthony said it was "safer", whatever that meant.<p>

"A lot of people don't want their children in the school," Padma explained, "they're afraid of the rumors and what not. I've actually heard that this year, years one and two will be somewhat combined."

Annabeth looked at Padma curiously, "What do you mean?" she asked.

The older girl shrugged. "Beats me. Anyway, you better get to sleep, class starts tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The next day, Annabeth ran into Aleron on the way down to breakfast. She smiled at him, "Congratulations, you got into Slytherin. That's what you wanted, right?"<p>

Vaisey smiled, "Yeah. Thanks. And I'm glad you got into Ravenclaw, the second best House."

Annabeth smiled. "Is it true we'll be having classes with the second years?"

"Yeah, I heard that, too," Vaisey said. He shrugged. "It might just be a rumor, but it would make sense. The Ministry seems to be starting a whole new curriculum, and since there are so few of us, why bother teach us separately?" he looked annoyed. "I'm so not looking forward to class."

"Why? I'm kind of excited to learn about magic," Annabeth said.

Vaisey's eyes widened in horror. "No wonder you're a Ravenclaw!" he said.

Annabeth punched in jokingly in the shoulder.

And the two laughed all the way to the Great Hall.

* * *

><p>Annabeth squinted at her agenda, trying to make out the handwritten words. Apparently, these wizards didn't use printers, which would have been much easier for her Dyslexic eyes. She wondered if there was a spell that could translate something into a different language, or perhaps read out loud to her. She made a quick mental note to look into that later.<p>

She looked up, and frowned. Where was her group? She was so focused on her schedule, that she hadn't realized she had trailed behind the others. Now how was she going to get to potions?

An older boy in a Gryffindor uniform walked past her, she noticed that he had on a prefect badge. Perfect.

"Excuse me," Annabeth called out.

The boy turned to look behind him, as if she was talking to somebody else. "Are you talking to me?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Annabeth. "I'm Annabeth Chase. I am a first year, and I'm having trouble finding my class."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Got lost?"

She nodded, embarrassed.

He laughed. "Don't worry, happens all the time to me. Sure, I'll lead you, seeing that I have nothing better to do. Plus, it's an excuse to be late for class," the boy grinned. "I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley. So, exactly what class are you trying to get to?"

"Potions."

Ron's eyes widened. "I wish you luck. You're going to need it."

Annabeth did not like the sound of that. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, everyone hates the teacher. Saying that he's a git is a huge understatement."

"Professor Snape?" Ron nodded. "My friend Vaisey met him last night, he's the head of his House. Vaisey said he seems okay."

Weasley stopped in his tracks. He looked as if someone had just punched him. "You mean your friends with a **Slytherin**?" Ron spat out the word _Slytherin_, as if it was some sort of disease.

"Uh . . . yeah."

Ron shook his head a couple of times, trying to get his thought straight. "Alright, you're new here, so you may not understand how things work. We do not like Slytherins. They are the enemy."

"Enemy?" Annabeth repeated. "Well, that hardly seems fair."

"It is completely fair. To associate with a Slytherin, is like associating with . . . with . . . um . . ." Ron struggled to think of something. "Something very bad."

"Why? What did they ever do to you? Give me three reasons."

This time Ron laughed. "What did they do to me? Okay, for starters, the Malfoys were all in Slytherin. The Malfoys are big, snobby, jerks who only care about themselves. They hate everyone who is not a pure-blood. Second, Professor Snape was in Slytherin. Snape hates everybody, especially us Gryffindors. He is a completely unfair teacher, and does not teach well at all. Third, You-Know-Who was in Slytherin, he is the most evil wizard of all time. He's killed more people than I can count, and my best friend was almost one of them."

"Those aren't reasons, they're just examples. Just because a couple of them are bad, doesn't mean you have to take it out on the entire House," Annabeth pointed out logically.

But Ron wasn't interested in logic. "Yes it does!" he cried, sounding like a little kid.

"No it doesn't. You're basing this off of something personal. Personal experiences cloud peoples' judgement," she said wisely.

Ron was not going to lose a fight to a first-year! "Well, then maybe Snape had a bad experience with Gryffindors, and that's clouding his judgement!" Ron stopped, realizing what he had just said.

"Perhaps he has," Annabeth agreed. "But, seriously, can you lead me to the potions lab?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Sure, follow me," Ron had forgotten how the fight had originally started. "Just go down the dungeons and make two lefts."

Annabeth shuffled her feet a bit, embarrassed. "Er . . . this is going to make me sound really stupid, but can you lead me down?" Annabeth said, "I . . . I have a bit of trouble telling my left from my right." This of course, was an exaggeration. She, while did have a bit of trouble, being Dyslexic and all, could figure it out on her own after a few seconds. It was the spiders she was worried about.

Ron raised an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. "Really?"

"Okay!" Annabeth said, "I'm scared there might be spiders down there. I really, _really_ hate spiders."

"Maybe you're just basing it off of a personal experience," Ron said sarcastically, not bothering to mention that he, too, was terrified of the little arachnids, "it's not fair to blame the entire species."

* * *

><p>Eventually, Ron decided to lead her down. Fortunately, neither ran into any spiders.<p>

"By the way," Annabeth said, "what are you going to tell your teacher when you come late for class?"

"What else?" Ron smirked. "I'll tell them that I was fulfilling my prefect duties."

Annabeth laughed, stepping into the potions room. She quickly took a seat next to Aleron Vaisey. The Professor's back was turned as he wrote on the board. _Maybe he won't notice_, she thought hopefully.

No such luck. "Ah, Miss Chase," said Professor Snape, without even turning around. His voice was quite, barely even a whisper, yet there was something about it that you couldn't possibly miss. "How lovely of you to _finally_ join us," he drawled, "ten points from Ravenclaw."

So far, her school year was not off to a great start.

* * *

><p><strong>Haha, I love the argument she had with Ron. I just started it, and then couldn't stop. I want to thank darklilyofthevalley for giving me that idea. <strong>

**Anyway, you know the drill. Please review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**max artemis potter: Dumbledore**

**Glass of Water: Thank you!**

**darklilyofthevalley: It's true, he is rather judgmental when it comes to Slytherins, but to be fair, he has had plenty of bad experiences with them.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Yes, there will be, although this mainly a Hogwarts-based story.**

**Cookie05: Yeah, maybe.**

**miller123456789: Yes, Luna does seem to be the number one request in this story. She will definitely make an appearance.**

* * *

><p>The rest of potions class proved to be rather uneventful. Snape gave a speech about what they would be learning this year, and then he sent Euan Abercrombie to the hallway because he was blowing his nose too loudly.<p>

As the class walked out, Vaisey looked at their schedule. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts next with the second-years," he announced.

"Isn't that the class taught by that weird toad-lady?" Harper asked.

"Yep. I bet she's a total push-over!" Vaisey grinned slyly, rubbing his hands together. "This is going to be fun."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Harper and Vaisey could not have been more wrong about Umbridge. "Good morning, class," she said, in a sickly-sweet tone.<p>

The class muttered back "Good morning, Professor," half-heartedly.

Umbridge smiled. "I am Professor Umbridge, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Annabeth didn't like the way the teacher spoke to them. Umbridge talked very slowly, emphasising every single syllable, as if the were a bunch of complete idiots. "In this class," she continued, "we will be learning the basics of defense for beginners. And I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that we will be following a safe, Ministry-approved course, so that nobody gets hurt."

"Don't worry," Vaisey whispered to her, "my brother says that no Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher ever lasts more than three terms. She'll be long gone by the end of the year."

Annabeth sighed in relief. Her mother had told her to try to keep a low profile and not anger anybody too much, but if this teacher kept on speaking to them as if they were five-year-olds, Annabeth did not think she would be able to keep it up much long.

"Gah!" she looked up and Umbridge was peering right down at them.

"Dear," she said to Vaisey, "is there something you would like to share with the whole class?"

Aleron said through gritted teeth, "No, ma'am."

The professor nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good. Now, if there will be no further interruptions," she looked at Annabeth and Aleron. "Let us begin. The Ministry feels that it will be important to obtain a theoretical knowledge of defense in order to get you through your studies, which after all is what school is all about." She scanned the group of students, as if daring them to disagree.

Finally, a second-year Gryffindor girl raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss . . . "

"MacDonald, ma'am. Natalie MacDonald," the girl said, she spoke with a slight Scottish accent.

"Ah, yes. Miss MacDonald, do you wish to share something with the class?"

The girl rolled her eyes slightly, as if to say, _well, duh,_ but she nodded politely at the professor. She hesitated for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "With all due respect to you and the Ministry, isn't school supposed to be about preparation for our adult life? And how are we supposed to be able to defend ourselves with only a 'theoretical knowledge' of how to do so?"

Umbridge's lips tightened, but she forced a smile. "I can't imagine when you would _need_ to defend yourselves. After all, who would want to hurt little children like yourselves?"

Annabeth could think of a bunch of things on the spot.

"Blimey," Aleron whispered, "I wish I knew a couple of good curses so I could use them on _her_," Annabeth could tell by the look in his eyes that he meant it, too.

Annabeth turned to see if Umbridge had heard him, but she was at the moment walking over to a table where two second-year Gryffindor boys sat next to each other. They appeared to be in the middle of a very intense game of hangman. "And what are you names gentlemen?" she asked, in the same false sweet voice.

"Nigel Westpurt and Dennis Creevey," one of the boys said.

"Well, Mr. Westpurt and Mr. Creevey, would you two young men mind passing out the text books to the class?"

"Can't you just use magic to . . ."

"Excellent!" she handed the boys each a pile of books that were almost as tall as they were!

Reluctantly, Nigel and Dennis passed out the books.

When Aleron received his book, he flipped though the pages. He made a face. "What's wrong?" Annabeth asked him quietly.

"There's nothing in here about defensive spells - - or even spells at all!"

Annabeth opened her book to a random page and stared at the content. Right away she knew there was a problem. The words were all written in fancy, cursive letters, and they were small and squished together. Annabeth struggled to read just one sentence. She raised her hand.

Umbridge came over to her. "Is there a problem?"

"Um . . . you see, I have Dyslexia and this book is really hard for me to read. Is there any chance that I could get it in a larger sized print?" she asked hopefully.

Umbridge blinked, confused. "What do you mean the book is hard to read?" she demanded.

Annabeth blushed slightly. She didn't know why she was embarrassed. It was nothing to be ashamed of. "You see, I have Dyslexia, and words sometimes get mixed up in my head. I mean, I can read, but it takes a bit longer than most people."

Umbridge frowned. This was not good. The girl couldn't read!_ Now_ how was she supposed to have order in her classroom? "Well, dear, what do you expect me to do?"

* * *

><p>Fifteen-year-old Seamus Finnigan sat in Professor McGonagall's class.<p>

"Class is over," McGonagall informed them.

The Irish boy sighed in relief. He thought that he was going to die of boredom! But just as he was about to exit the room, McGongall stopped him. "Mr. Finnigan?" she said, "a word, please."

Seamus's stomach tightened. Professor McGonagall was one of the strictest teachers in the school, if she wanted talk, it was unlikely to be done over tea.

What had he done this time? Seamus desperately searched his mind. True, he may not have been one of the brightest students, but he certainly wasn't stupid (although he did have a rather bad habit of accidently lighting things on fire.)

"Remember when we spoke about maybe having an extra credit program for you?"

_Uh oh, here it comes . . . _

"Well, there's a first-year girl by the name of Annabeth Chase. She's very bright, but is having some trouble in her studies. Would you be willing to tutor this girl?"

Seamus blinked. Tutor? That was it? What was the catch? He had thought that McGongall would make him write an essay on some stupid Goblin War, or memorize all of the Ministers of Magic in alphabetical order. But a tutoring job? **That** he could do.

He looked back at the professor in disbelief, but the expression on her face told him otherwise. "I would be happy to, Professor," he said. "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow night at six o'clock in the library."

Seamus nodded, after all, he had nothing better to do. "Thank you very much, Professor McGonagall. Um . . . can I have a note for my next class?"

"Of course. What do you have?"

He smiled a bit sheepishly. "Potions."

"Ah, yes. A note would be a good idea." She took out a piece of parchment and wrote him a pass.

"Thanks," he began to head out.

"Oh, and Seamus?"

"Yes?"

"The girl had Dyslexia."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, Seamus Finnigan. I bet none of you were expecting that. There is actually a very specific reason why I chose him as opposed to, say, Hermione. Can any of you guess? Guess correctly, and you win an imaginary cookie!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**superawesomejennifer-thatme: Yeah. Poor Seamus.**

**Artemis6634: Thanks!**

**ButterFlyToMe: I agree, Hermione is very smart, but I think that is she were to tutor somebody - - especially somebody like Annabeth - - it would likely turn into a power struggle. Besides, Seamus needed the extra credit, so . . . **

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Aw. I can't compete with that.**

**Cookie05: Hmm . . . an interesting theory, but no; at least as far as we know . . . (although he is a Half-Blood - - or "half and half" as he puts it.)**

**Glass of Water: Your first two theories are both correct, but not exactly what I was thinking of.**

**MasterofBugs123: I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you like him.**

**Alright, nobody could guess the reason why I chose Seamus, or at least not what I was thinking of, anyway. That's okay, I didn't expect anyone to. The answer will be given at my author's note at the bottom.**

* * *

><p>A near-disaster occurred the next morning during breakfast. Annabeth had overslept, and when she woke up, Emma Dobbs and Orla Quirkie, her two roommates, were gone. But Annabeth didn't understand. She had set her watch to wake her up at . . . wait, where was her watch? She must have left it in the potions lab! Annabeth mentally slapped herself for her stupidity. She couldn't believe this! No matter, now. She had to get dressed and eat breakfast. Annabeth quickly did so, and ran down the stairs into the Common Room. One person was still there.<p>

"Excuse me," she said, "is breakfast still open?"

The girl turned around. She had long, wavy, blond hair that nearly reached her waist. Her eyes were large and light blue, with a slightly vacant or spacey look in them. She wore strange-looking earrings that were shaped like radishes. She said, "Yes, I would imagine so."

"Thanks," Annabeth turned to go, then stopped. She said to the girl, "aren't you coming down?"

She shook her head. "No. I never come down between eight and eight thirty. That's when Nargles are more likely to attack you."

"What are - - never mind," she decided not to get involved. _Weirdo,_ Annabeth thought, as she left the room.

Annabeth ate her breakfast in a hurry, not wanting to be late for Charms. She was actually pretty excited for Charms. So far Annabeth didn't feel like she'd done any real magic, but Charms sounded promising.

She grabbed an English Muffin and headed out of the Great Hall. The torches weren't lit this morning, but she had anticipated this, which is why she had come prepared. Annabeth pulled out a match for her pocket and lit it. She then threw her muffin into the flames. That's when the near-catastrophe happened. Annabeth had thought she had thought everything out, but she had left one crucial scenario out of the equation.

A girl walked by Annabeth on her way to the restroom. She stopped when she saw the eleven-year-old throw food into the fire.

Annabeth froze, locking eyes with the girl for a split second. How could she explain this?

To her utter relief, the girl just walked away, muttering under her breath, "_Americans_."

* * *

><p>That night at six o'clock, Seamus Finnigan stepped inside the Hogwarts Library. A small girl was sitting with her nose in a large book that almost covered her face entirely.<p>

_ I thought McGonagall said she was Dyslexic. _

He cleared his throat. "Annabeth?"

"Yeah?" the girl replied in an American accent. She did not bother to look up from her book.

"I'm Seamus Finnigan, your tutor."

This time she did look up. Seamus saw her eyes for the first time. They were stormy grey, and had a look of extreme intelligence in them - - they didn't seem to fit such a small child.

"Okay," Annabeth said, putting down her book, "let's get started."

Seamus took a seat across from her. He wasn't really sure what to do. "So . . . um . . . how's life?" he asked awkwardly.

Annabeth looked at him kind of sideways. "Err . . . life's good, I guess."

There was a long uncomfortable pause. And Seamus could have sworn that he heard crickets chirping in the background.

After staring at each other awkwardly for at least a full thirty seconds, Annabeth cleared her throat. "So, should we, like . . . start?"

That sounded like a plan to Seamus, who really had no idea what he was doing. "So, what exactly do you need help with?" he asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "I was just told to meet you here. I guess I just kind of assumed that you would have it all planned out already."

"Oh." Was he supposed to? "Well, what do you have for homework?"

"Professor Snape told us to find the main ingredient in a Sleeping Potion."

"Okay, so we'll work on that."

"I already found it. It was easy. I just looked up 'sleeping potion' in the index of my textbook," Annabeth told him, with a slightly bragging tone to her voice.

Seamus had to admit it was impressive. It also made him feel stupid for not figuring it out after all these years. But something didn't fit. "I thought you couldn't read."

"No, I'm Dyslexic. I can read, but it takes me a bit longer. The letters sometimes move around, so I have trouble reading fancy script or anything that is too close together," she sounded annoyed saying this, as if she'd had to explain it a million times before. "Which gives me an idea," he pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts book, "this is the book Professor Umbridge assigned us. We have to read chapter one by tomorrow. I tried to read it, but it's just so **boring**. Plus, the words were tiny and too close together. Look," she opened the book to a random page.

Finnigan studied the content. "She's having you read this?" Annabeth nodded. "This isn't reading! This is mental abuse!** I** can hardly understanding this!"

Annabeth looked a bit relieved. "Oh, okay. Honestly, I was a bit worried that it was because of my Muggle background . . . anyway, it doesn't matter. I feel better now."

"Alright," Seamus said, scanning the page. "How about you read a page and then I read a page?"

"Sure." The two began reading.

Even with their system it took over an hour to finnish the chapter. By the time they were done, Annabeth's head was swimming with words. She couldn't remember ever being so bored in her life! Yes again, her life wasn't exactly a boring one.

"Thank you, Seamus."

"No prob - - " he stopped. Two kids around his age had entered the library. One was a girl with bushy brown hair, and the other a boy, whose was flaming red.

Annabeth recognized the boy. "Hey, Ron," she said casually.

Ron nodded at her in acknowledgement, but he scowled at Seamus, who returned the same dirty look. The girl stood there, looking rather uncomfortable.

The redhead frowned, shaking his head in disbelief. "Slytherins and backstabbers. You pick interesting company, Chase."

Now Annabeth was confused. "Oh, so now I'm not allowed to be seen with Gryffindors either?"

Ron snorted. "Sure, as long as they're real Gryffindors."

Everyone stared at him.

"Dude," Annabeth said, "that doesn't even make sense."

The girl looked at him and said, "Yeah, it really doesn't, Ron."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I had to be right about everything!" Ron shouted.

The librarian, Madam Pince, frowned. "Shh! This is a library," she hissed, "not a quidditch stadium!"

Ron muttered an apology, and after giving the two one last cold glare, he left, or rather, the girl dragged him away.

Seamus rolled his eyes. "Git," he muttered, "I suppose that's what you get for voicing your opinion."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Seamus said, although clearly it was something.

Annabeth decided to press him on about it. "C'mon, It's obviously _something_. You might feel better if you talk about it."

Seamus groaned. All of his friends were giving him the cold shoulder, he was getting advice from an eleven-year-old, and he just found out that tomatoes were a fruit. What was his life coming to?

* * *

><p><strong>The tomato thing just randomly popped into my head. <strong>

**A for Seamus, I put him in because he is seldom seen for the majority of OOP. For those of you that don't remember, Seamus got into a fight with Harry about the Daily Prophet, because his mother believed it. Harry, annoyed, called his mom stupid which, understandably, got Seamus mad. Everyone took Harry's side and basically ignored Seamus for most of the year. I figured I would use this to my advantage if I wanted to keep both story lines in order. The trick is to have main characters interact very rarely, so that you don't accidentally ruin the original plot. Anyway, since Seamus is a fairly recognizable character is Harry Potter, I figured that I might as well use him since we don't know what he does for the first half of the school year.**

**What do you think? Please review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Masterofbugs123: Yes, that is my intention.**

**miller123456789: Not quite.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: As of now, the plot is Annabeth going to Hogwarts in order to spy, but a greater plot with likely unfold along with the story.**

**darklilyofthevalley, Cookie05, Glass of Water, mixandmingle, and The Drawer, thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

><p>"Alright, so we have Potions for our first period, then we meet up with the second years for Herbology. After that we all have Defense Against the Dark Arts - - oh joy. Oh, and at midnight we have Astronomy. Cool."<p>

Annabeth nodded, "So all in all, it shouldn't be too bad of a day."

Aleron nodded. "I can't wait for tomorrow, though!"

"Why?"

"Tomorrow we get our first flying lessons!" Vaisey grinned so widely, that Annabeth was worried that his face would crack. "I can't wait! You'll just love flying, Annabeth. It's the most amazing feeling in the world!"

"You've done it before?"

"Of course! Most pure-blood families teach their children at a very young age. The Malfoys are so rich that they have their own indoor Quidditch pitch. They are so lucky! Even the Weasleys practice at home," he smirked, then added. "I hear they're so poor, that they have to use apples instead of balls."

Annabeth frowned. "Well that's . . ."

Suddenly, she heard a scream from down the hall. Vaisey and Annabeth rushed over to see what was happening. Several others seemed to have the same idea, so the two first-years had to push their way through a crowd in order to see what was going on. A Gryffindor girl was tackling an Slytherin boy, and it looked like the girl was winning.

"Geroff!" the boy shouted angrily.

Annabeth turned to Aleron, who seemed shocked. "That's . . . that's Blaise Zabini."

"Who?"

"He's a boy in Potter's year. I'm pretty sure the girl is a Weasley, notice the poor quality of her robes and the red hair."

Annabeth was shocked to see what this girl was doing. She was mainly using her fists, but would cast the occasional spell. Normally, Annabeth wouldn't want to interfere, but the poor boy never stood a chance, he was almost out cold. "Isn't anyone going to help him?" she demanded.

Harper, who had snuck up behind them, laughed. "And miss this fight? Are you kidding?"

"A teacher will come eventually," Aleron said, "so let's enjoy it while it lasts."

Then, as if right on cue, Professor McGonagall stepped into the middle of the fight. "What do you two think you are doing?" demanded the transfiguration teacher. Ginny and Blaise ceased to fight at once. _Wow,_ Annabeth thought, _she is good. _

* * *

><p>Potions was far more exciting than it was last time. Snape made a potion in class to show how it was done properly, and he said that in their next class they would begin working on a boil-cure potion. And he also kicked out Euan again. Hebology was alright, nothing too interesting. It was basically a lecture on what not to touch. Defense Against the Dark Arts was as boring as ever. Professor Umbridge made them copy the text from the book five times.<p>

Annabeth did not anticipate Astronomy to be any better, but it was alright. They got to stay up late, which was fun, and then they went up to one of the towers for star gazing. The class was taught by Professor Sinistra.

Annabeth discovered that she was quite good in this class, far better than anyone else. It probably helped that at Camp Half-Blood they were required to learn about the constellations. She found herself unintentionally correcting the teacher several times.

The next day began with Charms, where they continued to practice the swish and flick movements. This was followed by Transfiguration, which Annabeth was also quite excited about.

Transfiguration was taught by Professor McGonagall, the same person who had stopped the fight in the hall the other day.

"Transfiguration is not an easy class. It takes years of study and practice to completely get the hang of it. Therefore, I will need everyone's full cooperation. I have no patience for laziness. If you are not going to behave yourself, you can get up and leave my class right now," she said.

Annabeth had never seen a group of people so quiet before. This teacher really knew how to get students to listen.

"Now," said the Professor, "transfiguration is the art of changing one thing into another. It could be something as simple as changing dark chocolate into white chocolate, or . . ." she stopped speaking. Annabeth gasped as she realized the teacher was shrinking and growing whiskers! In a matter of only thirty seconds, she had become a cat. Then, as quickly as she had become one, McGonagall transformed back. The class clapped and cheered.

Annabeth knew right then that she was going to like this class.

* * *

><p>Flying class proved to be another intriguing lesson.<p>

It all started when their teacher, Madam Hooch, began to give them instructions. Hooch reminded Annabeth of a hawk (how fitting for a flying teacher.) Everything from her short, spiky hair, to the shiny, silver buckles on her boots stood out. Her featured were all clear and sharp, but her most prominent trait by far was her eyes. They were a unique shade of amber that appeared gold in the sunlight, and were always very focused. It was those eyes in particular that made Annabeth think of a bird of prey.

Madam Hooch was a strict, no-nonsense type woman. When she spoke, Annabeth had the urge to salute and say, "Yes ma'am!" at everything she said.

"Now," said Hooch, "I want everyone to listen carefully, because I am only going to say this once. Stick your right hand over the broom and say 'up'. Remember to concentrate when doing so."

A Hufflepuff girl named Rose Zeller, raised her hand a bit shyly. "But what if someone is left-handed? Because I'm a lefty, so do I still have to put my right hand over the broom or should I use my left?"

"No," Madam Hooch said, "if you are left-handed then you should stick your left hand over the broomstick. Any more questions?"

Harper raised his hand.

Madam Hooch looked a bit annoyed, but called on him (albeit somewhat reluctantly). Harper said, "But what if somebody is ambidextrous? Then which hand do we use?" the class groaned. He looked around. "What?" he demanded, "can't a person ask a question?"

"A **person**, yes," Vaisey muttered, "**him**, I'm not so sure about." A couple of kids giggled. Madam Hooch shot him a look.

Hooch looked at Harper. "Are you ambidextrous?" she asked.

Harper looked down. "No."

She looked around, "Is anybody here ambidextrous?" Nobody raised their hand. "Well, then I find this question to be rather impractical. So everyone, do as I say and place your right, or _left_ hand over the broom and say 'up'."

Everyone did. It looked pretty idiotic at first because nothing happened. Or at least that's what Annabeth thought, until someone shouted happily, "I did it!" The class turned to see Harper with his broom in hand, smiling rather haughtily.

"Excellent job, Harper," Hooch said, "now everybody, keep trying."

They did. The next broom to fly up was Vaisey's. Aleron looked so shocked that he forgot to be happy. The class continued, and slowly, but surely, they made progress. Soon everybody's brooms were up. Everybody, that is, except for Annabeth's and Euan, the wimpy Gryffindor with the big ears. How embarrassing! Annabeth, determined not to be last, tried with all her might to summon the broomstick into her hand.

_Willpower, don't fail me now!_

"Up!" Abercrombie cried, and it flew right into his hand.

Annabeth froze, shaking with fiery. She was last. That meant that she was worst. She, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, was the worst as something. Never!

"Calm down, Chase," Vaisey whispered.

That was the wrong thing to say. If looks could kills, Vasiey would have been long dead. Annabeth tried one last time, putting every last bit of effort into the coaxing the broomstick into her hand. Nothing happened. Annabeth turned to Madam Hooch with a slightly sheepish look on her face, she said quietly, "I think this broom is broken."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I am perfectly aware that Annabeth said that line when she was getting her wand. It may actually become her more or less catchphrase. Anyway, the reason why it didn't work is because of her heritage. Annabeth does things based off of logic, her magic works the same way. Since there was no REAL reason to summon a broom, she couldn't. If there was a strategic reasoning behind it, it would fly right into her hand. Does that make sense?<strong>

**Alright, so this is the last time I will be updating for a while. This story is NOT on haitus or anything, I'm just going to be really busy. The next time I update should be in about two weeks.**

**Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**max artemis potter, superawesomejennifer-thatme, darklilyofthevalley, and Glass of Water: Great, I'm glad it makes sense.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Thank you, I tried to make Harper that annoying kid who asks dumb questions to waste time.**

**Cookie05 and ButterflyFlyToMe: Thanks, I'm glad you guys like it.**

**Now, the long waited chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>That night, Annabeth found a surprise while brushing her teeth. She had spent the rest of the day trying to keep a low profile after what had happened in flying class. She forced herself to suck up and urge to act out, and absent-mindedly took notes and ignored Harper's obnoxious comments.<p>

Annabeth noticed that the bathroom mirror had fogged up. She groaned and attempted to wipe it off with her pajama sleeve. Nothing happened.

"Annabeth? Annabeth!"

It hit her right then: the mirror wasn't clouded at all. She was getting an Iris message. Maybe it was Luke! It would be nice to talk to him, even if she couldn't tell about magic (Athena made her swear not to tell anyone. As far as Luke knew, she was going to a normal boarding school in London.) At the moment, Annabeth just wanted to see him.

Unfortunately for her, it was not Luke, but rather Chiron who appeared in the mist. Annabeth tried her best to hide her disappointment and smiled at the camp director. "Hi, Chiron. What's up?"

"Well first of all, your mother wants you to know that she is extremely proud of you," he said, "she sends her regards." Annabeth nodded, so he continued. "I apologize for not being able to get a message to you earlier. We were worried that you might have been in the middle of class and I imagine it would be rather difficult to explain. We were trying to figure out which time would be most convenient to send it."

Annabeth said, "Well, we use owls here to deliver messages. I have a Tawny Owl, her name is Admete. If I wrote to you in Ancient Greek, nobody would be able to understand even if they got their hands on the note."

Chiron nodded. "Yes, I remember Professor Dumbledore telling me something about that. So we can go with your plan. Iris Messages should only be used as a last resort in absolute emergencies. Understood?"

"Yes - - but, how can Admete fly all the way over to the US and back on a regular basis? I'm not even sure if she could do it once. She would have to fly over the Atlantic Ocean!"

"Not to worry," said Chrion, "I'm sure your mother will help make the owl's trip quicker and less strenuous. Now, what information do you have on the upcoming war?"

Annabeth felt so stupid. She had completely forgotten about her mission - - the only reason why she even there! She quickly scanned her mind, trying to recall everything that Aleron had told her. "Um . . . well there's this evil wizard who was supposedly dead, but now, people seem to think that he returned somehow. The details are fuzzy. And there's this kid - - Harry Potter, I think - - he's, like, a legend in the wizard world because he apparently stopped this dark wizard when he was only a baby. There's also a group of people, they're called Slytherins and - - "

There was a knock at the door. One of her roommates, a second-year girl named Emma Dobbs, said, "Annabeth are you almost done? I really have to go!"

Oops. She had completely forgotten about Emma. "One second," she called, "I'm almost done!"

"Alright, hurry!"

Annabeth turned back to Chiron. "I have to go, I'll write you soon. Bye!"

The message ended.

* * *

><p>The next day, Annabeth woke up with a mission. She needed to find out more about Harry Potter and this mysterious dark wizard.<p>

After coming down into the Common Room, playing a quick game of wizard chess with Orla Quirkie (Annabeth won, of course), she went down the stairs into the Great Hall for breakfast.

Annabeth tapped Padma Patil on the shoulder. "You're in Potter's year, right?" she asked.

Padma scowled slightly, remembering what he and Weasley had done to her and her sister last year. "Yes," she said. "We know each other."

"Are you friends?"

"Well . . . I wouldn't say 'friends', we're civil towards each other, but I don't know him that well. My sister, Parvati, knows him better." Upon Annabeth's disappointed face, she asked, "Why?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Dunno, just curious, I suppose. I want to find out a bit more about the wizard world. "

"Well, I can point him out to you," Padma offered. Annabeth nodded eagerly. "Okay, see over at the Gryffindor table, the boy sitting in between the redhead and the frizzy-haired girl? Oh, perfect! he's turning around right now! Do you see him?"

Annabeth got her very first real look at Harry Potter just then. He was skinny and fairly tall with huge, geeky-looking glasses, and bright green eyes. There didn't seem to be anything particularly extraordinary about him, though. He looked pretty normal - - a bit scrawny, if anything. So Annabeth shifted her attention to the people he was sitting next to. One could tell a lot about a person by who they hung out with. She discovered that they looked oddly familiar, especially the boy. It wasn't until the ginger turned his head that she saw why.

"That's Ron Weasley!" she said a bit louder than intended. A couple of heads turned.

Padma looked a bit surprised. "You know him?"

"Yeah, he lead me to class once. He's friends with Harry?"

"Are you kidding?" Terry Boot chimed in, "He, Potter, and Granger are like the three musketeers!"

Annabeth assumed that Granger was the girl.

Padma looked confused. "What are musketeers?"Annabeth probably would have laughed if her mind wasn't somewhere else. She glanced back in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Seamus Finnigan was sitting at the end, trying to be as far away from Potter, Weasley, and Granger as possible. He ate his breakfast with a rather sullen expression on his face. Every now and then, he and Weasley would cast a glare at each other.

She nudged Anthony Goldstein. "Is that normal?" she asked, pointing at Seamus and Ron.

"Is what - - oh, that. That's been going on for a while now. I reckon that Finnigan got into a fight with Potter - -and, naturally, everyone took Potter's side. Can't say how long it'll last, the two of them are both pretty stubborn."

"So the entire House is just ignoring him?"

"That would be my guess. But to be fair, Potter has it pretty rough, right now he needs all of the support he can get. I imagine Weasley's feeling particularly protective of his friend."

Annabeth nodded. It made sense to her. "What do you think they're fighting about?" she asked.

"Blimey, hell if I know. Although, if I were to guess, I think it may be about all of the lies _The Prophet_ is telling."

"About You-Know-Who?" Anthony nodded. "Do . . . do you believe that he's back?"

Anthony Goldstein's eyes scanned the area, as if making sure that nobody would overhear. Finally, in a hushed voice, he answered, "I'm trying not to get myself too involved. I believe that he's back, but I'm not going to do anything against the Ministry if I can help it for the time being. I suggest you do the same, Chase." Annabeth had never seen Anthony look so serious before. The older boy usually seemed fairly relaxed and outgoing, but at the moment he only looked stressed and tense. "Most of us in Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff as far as I know, believe Potter and Dumbledore as well."

"But Dumbledore's like the greatest wizard of all time, right?" he nodded. "So why doesn't the Ministry believe him?"

Anthony shook his head. "You ask a lot of questions," he said, but answered her nevertheless. "The thing isn't so much that they don't believe him, it's more that they don't _want_ to. I mean, think about it, Annabeth, you're a smart girl: what would happen if the Ministry announced that a murderous madman was on the loose how do you think the public would react?"

The harsh reality hit her like a ton of bricks. "People would panic!" she exclaimed, "and that would make the Ministry look bad, wouldn't it? So they're lying to the public to make themselves look better?" Goldstein nodded gravely. "But - - but that's so messed up! It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Don't they realize what they're doing? This is insane! This is - - " she stopped and she made yet another horrible realization. "That's why they brought Umbridge here, isn't it? She works for the Ministry. You said so yourself on the first day that they're trying to interfere with Hogwarts. They're trying to brainwash the students into thinking that Dumbledore and Potter don't know what they're talking about."

Anthony paused. Sure, the thought had occurred to him, but he had tried his best to dismiss it. But hearing it come from somebody else's mouth - -_ anybody_ else's mouth, made him realize that the scenario was not only possible, it was likely.

Goldstein looked at her directly in the eyes and said, "I think you're right."

"This is bad."

Things were about to go from bad to worse.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that this chapter was just mostly people talking. Things will start heating up in the next couple of chapters. <strong>

**Characters you can look forward to seeing are Theodore Nott and Luna Lovegood.**

**Unfortunately, school is starting next week so I won't be able to update quite as often. :(**

**I also want to know what you guys think of Harper and Vaisey. Do you like them or are they too Mary-Sue-ish (or whatever name they use for boys.) Please review even if you don't have an opinion.**


	13. Chapter 13

**max artemis potter: Well, that means yours will probably end sooner than mine.**

**anonymous: You're right, he would. Thank you for letting me know, I'm going to fix it right now.**

**Masterofbugs123: Thank you.**

**Cookie05: Yeah, I saw it again recently, too.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Gary-Stu? lol. Anyway, I'm glad you like them.**

**Amazing-Anna'beth'1: Then you won't he disappointed.**

**E.C Silence: Unfortunately, Annabeth will not be able to do all of the cool things that Harry did in his fifth year, but she will do many interesting things on her own.**

* * *

><p>That night, Annabeth wrote Chiron a long, detailed letter about everything she knew. She licked the envelope, sealing it. She felt quite proud of herself at that moment. That is, until she realized one thing: she didn't know how to send her letter.<p>

Annabeth mentally slapped herself and walked into the Common Room. Almost all of the younger kids were in bed, already. She saw Kevin Entwhistle, Terry Boot, and Michael Corner playing exploding snaps in the corner. Annabeth decided not to interrupt them, everyone knew how seriously they took their games. She also saw Bradley and Chambers quizzing each other for tomorrow's test, and Cho Chang braiding Marietta Edgecombe's hair.

"Hello," said a voice.

Annabeth practically jumped ten feet in the air. For half a second she forgot where she was and nearly pulled out her knife for protection. She didn't. Instead, Annabeth turned around to face the same girl whom she had spoken to a couple of days ago.

"Hi," Annabeth said.

The girl cocked her head like a confused puppy. "You look as if you are debating whether or not to ask me something."

Annabeth blinked. "Um . . . yeah. I was wondering if you could show me the Owlery."

"Of course," the girl replied. "I was just on my way there now to mail a letter to my dad. Follow me."

She did, as the strange girl lead her to a room filled with what had to be hundreds of owls. Barn Owls, Eagle Owls, Great Grey Owls, Elf Owls, Tawny Owls, Long-Eared Owls, Short-Eared Owls, Little Owls, and Tawny Owls - - and those were just the British species! There were also some foreign ones like the Boreal Owl, the Great-Horned Owl, the Fearful Owl, and the Maned Owl. There was also the occasional hawk or raven. They were everywhere! Many of them glared at her. Some of them were flying around the room, but most were perched.

Annabeth frowned. "Do they have enough room?" she asked worriedly.

The girl nodded. "The windows open and they are allowed to fly out to hunt whenever they want."

Annabeth relaxed a bit. It would be cruel and horrible to keep all of these birds locked up in this room all of the time. She looked around for her own owl. "Admete?" she called, "Ademete!"

The Tawny flew right over to her, landing on Annabeth's shoulder. She grinned. "Did you miss me?" she whispered. Admete cooed. "Alright, so I need you to send this letter to Chiron at Camp Half-Blood. It's in New York, but don't worry, my mother will help you out. Okay?" Admete responded by sticking out her talon.

Annabeth grinned, and sent off her owl. Then she turned to face the girl. "You know," she said, "I don't even know you're name. What is it?"

Annabeth half expected it to be something weird, but instead she said. "Luna." Okay, not so weird. "Luna Lovegood." Spoke too soon.

"Alright, Luna," she said, "thank you."

Luna stopped walking. "No one has ever thanked me before," she whispered.

There was an awkward pause. Annabeth felt that she should say something comforting, but she didn't know what. And before she could even open her mouth to speak, Luna was gone.

* * *

><p>The next day was Saturday. On weekends students were allowed to wear muggle clothing. Annabeth happily picked out a T-shirt and jeans, then ran down to the Great Hall. She met Aleron there.<p>

Annabeth had felt a bit like she was avoiding the poor guy, and wanted to make sure he was okay. "Hey!" she said cheerfully.

Vaisey jumped. "What in Merlin's beard "are you wearing?" the Slytherin demanded, looking horrified.

"Huh?" she looked down at her outfit, grinning slyly. "These are called clothes," she explained to him very slowly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Aleron blinked. He was wearing robes, but his appeared to be a different style from the school ones. "Why? What are you wearing?"

He looked down. "Clothes." Then he understood. "Oh! You're wearing muggle clothing?"

Annabeth nodded. Vaisey looked a bit uneasy. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, no! It's just . . . I've never . . . I'm not . . ." he looked down at the floor, blushing madly. Vaisey took a deep breath and started over again. "You see . . . in Slytherin House, muggles aren't exactly held to the highest regards, and . . ."

"You don't want to be seen with me," Annabeth said, her voice shaking with rage.

"No! No, that's not it at all. You're not a muggle, you're not even a mud - - muggle-born. Many great wizards were half-bloods. I was just surprised to see you dressed like that, that's all." he glanced at her jeans. "Those look rough, are they really comfortable?"

"Yes, because they're soft on the inside. I think the rough part is for insulation or something. But don't change the subject. Do you have a problem with being seen with me?"

Aleron grimaced. It was true, he hadn't had a problem with her all year until now. Why should her clothes make a difference? It didn't to him, it wasn't as if he was talking to real muggle. But it would likely sabotage his reputation. He liked Annabeth, he really did.

Vaisey remembered a conversation that he had had with his father the day before the start of the term. He had told him that the Dark Lord was back and that there was going to be a war soon. His father had told him that it was essential that they did not pick the losing side. Joining Potter, of course, was never an option, but staying in the middle was. So the Vaiseys had chosen neutrality, that was the safest choice. Aleron's family was not alone, the Puceys, the Higgs, and the Zabinis weren't taking a side in the war either, at least not until they were positive they would win.

Annabeth was clever and powerful. She would be a good ally to have in the upcoming war. So it was in his best interest to stay on her good side. He nodded. "It doesn't matter," said Aleron. "What I meant was that some families, like the Malfoys, are very anti-muggle. My family's not that way, I swear."

Annabeth looked him over, debating whether or not he was being truthful. "I trust you," she said, "don't make me regret it."

* * *

><p>After breakfast, Annabeth decided to explore the castle a bit. The building was probably rich with architecture. She was right. Annabeth walked around the castle for hours with a pencil and sketch pad in her hand. It really was fascinating to view. There several different styles to the fortress, ranging for the 10th century, to the early 1600s, suggesting that certain parts had been renovated over the years. Annabeth estimated that the main building was around seven stories tall. Of course compared to the modern skyscrapers of today, it didn't seem that big, although it was probably massive in the Middle Ages. Magic was probably used to hold it together, because the base was poorly constructed when it came to stableness.<p>

She could hardly contain her excitement as she quickly sketched the different corridors.

"Yay!" Annabeth tripped and fell face down on the floor. She stood up, brushed herself off, and turned. There was a boy glaring at her. Annabeth realized that she must've not seen the boy and tripped over him by mistake. He appeared to be a couple of years older than her, and was hunched over a book. "Sorry," she said.

The boy said nothing. He just continued to glare at her.

Something about this whole scenario irked her. What was he doing inside on a day like today? It was about sixty degrees fahrenheit, and almost everybody was outside. Yet again, the same could be said about her as well. But if one was going to read, why do it in a remote corridor on the floor? Surely it would be more comfortable to do it in the Common Room or in the soft grass under a tree on the grounds. It just didn't make sense.

_Unless,_ Annabeth thought, _he didn't want to be seen._

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><p><strong>In case you haven't already guessed, I like owls. My dad and I sometimes go bird-watching, and sometimes we see them. I get the feeling that Annabeth would have a special sort of relationship with owls, due to the fact that they are messengers for her mother. It's a bit like Percy's relationship with fish and horses, but not exactly. Having an animal work for you is different than creating the animal yourself. So that is why Annabeth cannot talk to owls, because I know somebody is going to ask me that. <strong>

**Fun Harry Potter Fact: Devon Murray, the actor who plays Seamus Finnigan in the _Harry Potter_ movies, had the record for accidentally breaking the most prop wands on set. As of _Order of the Phoenix_, he had broken ten.**

**Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Masterofbugs123: lol**

**Amazing-Anna'beth'1: I'm glad you liked Luna. As for who Annabeth ran into, that remains to be seen. **

**miller123456789: Thank you. I had started "A New Twist" about two years ago, my writing style has greatly improve since.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: I agree. It is rather sad that Luna hasn't been thanked before, but we know that later on she made friends with the Golden Trio and became very close with them. Annabeth was like a first step, I suppose.**

**Cookie05: Ooh, I actually knew that! My brother was watching the commercial when he saw him and was like, "Oh my god is that Draco Malfoy?"**

**Glass of Water: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

* * *

><p>Sunday's <em>Daily Prophet<em> was not a big hit in the Great Hall.

"NOOOOO!" screamed half of the school.

Annabeth glanced around the room. Almost everybody had a look of horror on their face. The Gryffindors seemed the most upset, by far (Granger, Weasley, and Potter in particular,) and the Slytherins seemed to be bothered by it the least. What was it? Annabeth did not know, but she was determined to find out.

"Look at this!" Anthony Goldstein cried, slamming the _Prophet_ onto the table in anger and frustration.

Everyone who had not already received a copy of the paper quickly peered over at the headlines. Their reaction was a combination of terror and disgust. A couple of fourth-years began to cry.

Annabeth, who could no longer take not knowing something, looked over as well. She squinted at the headline. It strained her Dyslexic eyes more than ever with all of the moving pictures around it. She considered asking someone to read it to her, but decided against it. When she was finally able to make out the words, they read:

_Ministry Seeks Educational Reform _

_Delores Umbridge Appointed First-Ever "High Inquisitor" _

Annabeth had no idea what a "Hight Inquisitor" meant, but guessing by the context, she figured it that it must have been a pretty powerful position. Annabeth understood why people would be upset, but it was more than that; some of the students seemed absolutely mortified. Others looked as if somebody had just punched them in the face. Sure, Umbridge was bad. That went without saying. But it wasn't the end of the world. She was their teacher, it's not like she could hurt them or anything.

Unless . . . unless she was a monster. Annabeth had never encountered a monster in disguise as a teacher, but she had heard stories about it from some of the other campers. It was a fairly common way for monsters to get ahold of young Half-Bloods. What if . . . no; no that was impossible. Not here, anyway. There was no way a monster would go across seas just to get ahold of one demigod.

She looked around. Could there be other demigods at Hogwarts? Annabeth looked around the Great Hall. She estimated there to be about nine hundred students in the school. Was it possible? She knew the gods had left England centuries ago, but was it possible that there were a couple descendants of ancient British Half-Bloods? Maybe she should contact Chiron. He could send a satyr over and . . .

Annabeth stopped her mental rant. This was stupid; she was being completely illogical! Still, Annabeth couldn't help but get the feeling that there was more to Umbridge than met the eye.

She listened as Padma read the entry out loud. "_. . . has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time,' said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley." Weasley? _Annabeth wondered if he could be related to Ron._ "'He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve.'_

_"This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the wizardingschool. As recently as 30 August Educational Decree Twenty-two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person._

_"'That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,' said Weasley last night. 'Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts.'_

_"It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalized with the passing of Educational Decree Twenty-three, which creates the new position of 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor'._

_"'This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the "falling standards" at Hogwarts,' said Weasley. 'The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post, and we are delighted to say that she has accepted. . . ."_

Annabeth only half listened as the article went on. She locked eyes with Goldstein. They had been thinking the same thing: their suspicions had been correct.

* * *

><p>The next day was Monday. Professor Umbridge looked as smug as ever. It made Annabeth want to puke.<p>

Kevin Whitby, a second-year Hufflepuff boy, was doodling class. Umbridge took notice to this and walked over to the boy's desk. "What do we have here?" she asked, in a fake-sweet voice. Before Stewart could protest, Umbridge picked up the drawing and held it up for the class to see. She read it out loud, "'I heart Eleanor Branstone'." The class burst into hysterical laughter. "Aw, how sweet. Unfortunately, none of us care about your romantic interests. Ten points from Hufflepuff!"

Branstone's ears turned pink. Whitby sunk down in his seat, and slid under the desk.

Umbridge tried to bend down next to the kid, but decided against it. Instead, she stomped her foot and cried, "Mr. Whitby, get up this instant!"

Owen Claudwell, who was sitting next to Kevin, looked down at his friend. "Professor, I think he's crying," he said quietly.

Umbridge banged her hand on the desk. "There is no crying in my class!" she said, "Whitby, I am going to count to three. And when I'm done, if you are not sitting in this chair, I will - -"

"Stop it!" Annabeth cried, standing up. She regretted the words as soon as she said them.

All eyes turned to her. Umbridge eyed her like a jungle cat eyed its prey. "What did you say, dear?" she said.

Annabeth was about to apologize, when she realized that she was not the one who should be saying sorry. "I said, stop it," she repeated, looking Umbridge right in the eye. "Leave him alone!"

"Miss Chase, it is not your place to question my authority in my own classroom. Five points from Ravenclaw. I am going to have to ask you to sit down."

Annabeth stood her ground. "No," she said calmly.

She half expected smoke to come out of Umbridge's ears. But instead the professor said in a surprisingly calm voice, "Dear, I'm sure I must have misheard you. For a moment I thought that you refused to sit down."

Annabeth knew that she wasn't supposed to let her anger get the better of her, but she couldn't help it. "You heard me correctly, ma'am," she replied, eyes flashing angrily.

"Well, then. I'm afraid I have no other choice. Miss Chase, please join me in my office tonight for detention."

* * *

><p><strong>School start tomorrow and I wanted to update at least one last time first. I don't know when my next update will be, but I will try to make it as quick as possible. Hopefully I'll have one up sometime this week or next week.<strong>

**Should I continue the Harry Potter facts?**

**Please review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh my god, I just realized something: I don't have a disclaimer! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the strawberry-flavored lipbalm in my room.**

**ArtemisRide: That is an interesting idea. Unfortunately, there are two problems with it: one, this is not an AU, so Annabeth's interaction with Ron should be minimal. Two, in this fic, she's about four years younger than him, so it's unlikely that he would take anything she says too seriously. It's a good idea, though. Under different circumstances I might used it. **

**Masterofbugs123: Yeah, poor Annabeth.**

**Cookie05: I actually didn't see it yet, but I really want to. My dad thinks I need to see the original first. So don't spoil it for me!**

**max artemis potter: Thanks.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: So do I. She's pretty bold and very defensive, so it would make sense that she would stand up for the boy.**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Alright, I will continue them. Sadly, Umbridge is not a monster, though (at least not in the Greek sense). That was just Annabeth being overly paranoid.**

**PJO and HP lover: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it.**

**HappyHS: Beats up? That seems rather farfetched. Tells off? Much more likely. By the way, I read your reviews to A New Twist, thank you so much!**

**darklilyofthevalley: Let's hope I made it interesting.**

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><p>"Ah, Annabeth," Umbridge said as the Ravenclaw girl entered her office.<p>

Annabeth glanced around the room. The atmosphere alone was enough to make Annabeth want to turn around and leave. Everything in the room was a sickly shade of pepto bismol pink, and there were creepy cat decorations everywhere as well.

Hesitantly, Annabeth walked up to the teacher's desk, where Umbridge was busy grading papers.

"You will be writing lines tonight, Miss Chase," the professor drawled comfortably. It didn't take a genius to know that she was totally enjoying this.

Annabeth grimaced. _Lines?_ She couldn't imagine there being a worse punishment. Annabeth wanted to make a scene. She wanted to shout at Umbridge and tell her how completely unfair this punishment was. But instead Annabeth tried her best to swallow her pride and through gritted teeth, asked, "What should I write?"

Umbridge's eyes were practically glowing with glee. "Hmm . . . let's see . . . how about 'I must control my temper'." It was an order, not a question.

Annabeth clenched her hands into tight fists, but said nothing. She accepted the quill the professor gave her and went to sit down in the empty desk. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She smirked. "Professor?" said Annabeth innocently. Umbridge looked up. "Can I write it in Greek?" she asked.

Umbridge glared at her in absolute loathing. She had been able to figure out the other children pretty quickly, but this one was different. What kind of game was she playing? "No, you may certainly not."

Annabeth shrugged. It was worth a try.

She held the quill awkwardly between her fingers. Annabeth never quite figured out how to hold one properly. Her other teachers had all given her permission to use an old-fashioned fountain pen instead. All except for Umbridge.

She began to write.

_I must laern to . . _. she crossed it out, _learn to . . . . _

Annabeth dropped her quill suddenly. She had felt a sharp pain in her hand. Annabeth tried to ignore and wrote some more, but the pain only got worse. Annoyed, she decided to look as she was it was.

Annabeth looked at her hand. She wasn't expecting to see anything. Maybe a scratch or something. She was wrong. There was definitely something there. Carved into her hand, in her own blood, were the words on the parchment. Annabeth figured it out right away.

_Sick. This lady was sick._ She looked up at Umbridge. The professor looked absolutely smug.

The teacher noticed Annabeth looking at her and said, "Is something wrong, dear?"

Annabeth glared at her, not saying a word. She continued to glare for a full thirty seconds longer. Then, without warning, she snapped the quill in two, threw it on the floor, and ran out of the room.

* * *

><p>Annabeth was too busy running to watch where she was going. She was going to have to speak to someone about this. <em>Hogwarts: A History<em> said that physical punishment was illegal in Hogwarts since 1938. Something was very wrong with that woman. No wonder some kids had been crying. She was horrible!

"Ouch!" Annabeth had accidentally bumped into somebody. "Sorry . . ." she looked up and gulped, "Sorry, Professor McGonagall."

"Miss Chase, there is no running in the hallways," she said sternly.

Annabeth nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

McGonagall had begun to walk away, when Annabeth called, "Hey wait, um, Professor!"

McGonagall turned around. "What is it?"

"There's . . . there's something wrong with Umbridge. She gave me detention and made me write in my own blood, and . . . " Annabeth noticed that McGonagall looked doubtful. She didn't believe her! "Wait! I have proof," she pulled out her hand, showing the bloody words that had been etched in.

For a second, McGonagall looked absolutely shocked. That shock soon turned to anger. "This is completely unacceptable!" she cried angrily. "Something WILL be done about that woman!" she turned back to Annabeth, "Go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will fix that up."

Annabeth frowned. It was just a couple of cuts. They would heal in time. She had been wounded far worse before. "I'm fine."

McGonagall glared at her, once again regaining her posture, the woman looked as intimidating as ever. Annabeth decided not to argue, the transfiguration teacher was on her side, after all.

* * *

><p>After several wrong turns, and a lot of help from the portraits, Annabeth made it to the infirmary. There were nearly a hundred white beds lined up against the walls, but currently only two were occupied. Both of the kids were is Hufflepuff, and appeared to be older than her by at least a couple years. There was one boy and one girl.<p>

The girl had long, reddish hair and hazel eyes. She gave Annabeth a kind smile. She had a large black eye that was squirting out some sort of puss. Annabeth assumed that was why she was in the hospital wing. The boy was not nearly as friendly. He was blond, skinny, and had a slight upturned nose. He just scowled.

"Hi," Annabeth said a bit awkwardly.

"Hello," the girl replied. "I'm Susan Bones, fifth-year. Who are you?"

"Annabeth Chase, first-year," she looked at the girl's eye, "um . . . what . . ."

Susan managed to laugh, although it seemed half-hearted. She touched eye and then shuddered. It must have been painful. "Nasty jinx. I couldn't tell exactly what it was. Could you, Zack?" she asked, referring to the blond boy.

He frowned. "Don't call me that," he said, "as for the spell, no. I think it was done nonverbally."

Annabeth looked over the boy. He seemed perfectly fine to her. "What happened to_ you_?" she demanded a bit rudely.

The boy said nothing, but Susan said, "_Locomotor_ Mortis. It's a leg-binding spell. Zack was hit by a rather nasty one."

The boy, Zack, glared at her. "It's none of her business! And don't call me Zack!"

"Why is there shouting?" a voice demanded.

A woman came into the room. She wore a black dress with a white apron over it, and he grey hair was tied back in a tight bun.

"Are you Madam Pomfrey?" asked Annabeth.

"Yes," the woman said.

Annabeth held out her hand, "Detention with Umbridge," she said.

Madam Pomfrey gasped. "She's having you . . . ugh, that woman!"

It seemed that Umbridge was just about as popular with the staff as she was with the students.

She gave put something on Annabeth's cuts. It stung a little, but she didn't share show it. The entire process took about four minutes to clean the cuts, and then Annabeth was sent off.

For the first time since she entered the school, Annabeth felt as if everything would be alright. She felt confident that she had done the right thing by going to the authorities. The adults would sort things out, she was sure of it. Everything was going to be alright. It was all going to be downhill from here.

She, of all people, should have known better.

* * *

><p><strong>A short chapter, and a bad one. I am ashamed. I just felt that there needed to be more Hufflepuff. They are particularly excellent finders, you know. I always got really mad at Harry for not telling an adult about his detention. I would like to believe that Annabeth would have more common sense. <strong>**The boy, for those of you who didn't know, was Zacharias Smith, a smart-mouthed Hufflepuff who was in Dumbledore's Army later on in the fifth book. **

**Sorry I couldn't update sooner. I began eighth grade, and it's SO hard! I've never been given so much homework so early in the year. It's very annoying. Anyway, since it's a long weekend, hopefully I'll be able to update again. If not, you can blame my teachers. **

**Suggestions are always welcome. So is constructive criticism. I don't care, just review! Pretty please?**


	16. Chapter 16

**miller123456789: Thank you!**

**PJO and HP lover: Good question. The reason is because this story is not an AU for either series (yes, I know that Annabeth states in The Lightning Thief that she's never been on a quest, but that get covered at the end, trust me.) The trick to keeping both story lines in order in a crossover is not have very little to no interaction with the main characters. That's why I'm mainly having Annabeth speak to the minor characters, and not with the Golden Trio.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: Thanks, but what exactly are you refering to?**

**Cookie05: I don't know. How many are there?**

**Glass of H2O: I wish I was that lucky! **

**darklilyofthevalley: Me too.**

* * *

><p>Annabeth was careful to avoid Umbridge the next few days. She didn't know how McGonagall had handled her, or how much power the woman had, but she didn't want to find out until the last moment possible. She would enjoy her ignorance while she could. In transfiguration class McGongall acted as if nothing had changed, and Annabeth couldn't tell it if that was a good sign or not.<p>

She met up with Finnigan a couple of times in the library. Homework went nearly twice as fast with him around. The poor boy seemed to be growing more and more depressed each day. Annabeth wondered if she should say something to him, but decided against it. At least for now.

* * *

><p>On Thursday, Annabeth woke up in a bad mood. She was <em>so<em> not looking forward to class that day. For starters, Defense Against the Dark Arts was their first period. And to make matters worse, she had flying at 3:30. She just knew it was going to be a nightmare.

When Annabeth entered the classroom, Umbridge gave her the evil eye. Annabeth acted as if nothing had happened and took her usual seat next to Vaisey.

"Hem hem," Umbridge "coughed" to get their attention. "I have decided that today we are going to switch things up a bit."

The class brightened up. Did this mean that they were actually going to start using spells? Was McGonagall that good?

"You have all been assigned new and permanent seats," she said, ignoring the class's groans. She cleared her throat again and began to read from the list. "Mr. Harper, please take a seat by the corner. Mr. Vaisey, come over here and sit next to him," Vaisey looked like he was going to be sick, but reluctantly obeyed. "Mr. Creevey, you will be sitting with Miss Quirkie, over here. Miss McDonald, please take a seat next to Mr. Wespurt. Baddock, by the window next to Zeller," she continued her list in no particular order. It seemed that Umbridge was purposely putting students in the places where they would be most uncomfortable. And, in all likelihood, she was.

". . . And finally, Miss Chase, please sit right in front of the teacher's desk, next to Mr. Ackerly."

Annabeth blinked. That was it? Stewart Ackerly was a second-year, and in Ravenclaw, just like her. He almost always had his nose in a book. Although she never spoke more than three words to the boy, he seemed friendly enough. Ackerly was probably a muggleborn or a half-blood, because Annabeth noticed that the books he read were often of muggle literature. And although she would have preferred Vaisey, Annabeth didn't mind Stewart. But why had Umbridge put her next to him? Everyone else was paired with their worst enemy, or complete opposite. Could it just be that Umbridge had run out of people and they were the last two? The scenario was possible, but it seemed unlikely. While Umbridge seemed to hate all of the students, Annabeth was pretty sure that she was high on the list. It would certainly be out of character for Umbridge to give anything but the worst.

Her logical mind believed that there was an alterior motive. _I mean, Harper and Vaisey? Come on! There was no way that could be coincidence._

"Miss Chase, did you not hear me? Sit down next to Ackerly now or I will put you in detention!"

Annabeth did as she was told and sat next to him. Stewart was also rather jumpy. He was nervous and often twitched. He was a tall boy with curly brown hair, and dull blue eyes. He was busy skimming the latest chapter in their text book when she sat down next to him.

Vaisey shot her a look and mouthed "lucky" to her. Annabeth shot him an apologetic glance, but said nothing. She could not risk another detention.

* * *

><p>Saying that Annabeth was reluctant to go to flying class was an understatement, saying that she was deathly afraid was much more accurate. The last time she had been in that class she'd been publicly humiliated, an experience which she did not want to repeat. Her pride had been hurt. Now it was up to her to fix it.<p>

Flying class was horrible. Madam Hooch explained to them the rules of Quidditch, and then they all tried to score goals with the Quaffle. Harper and Vaisey didn't miss a single shot, and most of the others did pretty well, too. Annabeth made two goals out of ten. It was humiliating.

Annabeth left flying class in an even worse mood than before. She was not going to tolerate any more ignominy for others.

"Excuse me, young lady," said a voice.

"Would you like to sample our toffee?"

Annabeth looked up. Two identical boys stood over her, holding a box of candy. The both had red hair and freckles and wore Gryffindor robes. Maybe they were related to Ron.

"I'm Fred and this is my brother, George," said one of the boys.

"We're twins," said the other.

"Yes, I figured as much. Unless you happened to be clones."  
>"So, do you want?"<p>

She shrugged. Annabeth figured her day couldn't get any worse, so she took one, not bothering to read the label. Annabeth wasn't allergic to anything, so she didn't see the point.

Immediately, she felt something strange in her mouth. Her tongue was swelling up! That couldn't be! What was in that candy?

She noticed that the two boys were sniggering.

She glared at them with a look so intimidating, that anyone who any any common sense would beg for mercy.

Fred and George did not.

Annabeth could not take it anymore. Her tongue was chocking her!

By this time a crowd of onlookers had gathered around. They were laughing as her. This was so disrespectful; she was the daughter of Athena, for crying out loud! How DARE they? She grabbed both boys by their shirt collars holding them close to her face.

"Fiths ith," she said, unable to speak properly.

The twins seemed mildly surprised by her reaction. Nobody had ever reacted this way before. It was just a joke, after all. It wasn't like they were doing any permanent damage. Everybody liked a good laugh.

But the look in the little girl's eyes was beyond angry. It seemed almost _murderous_.

People were watching. What were they going to do?

Fred managed to laugh. "Alright, hold your horses, lassie. It was just a joke!" he pulled out his wand, "_Shrinkinus linguia!_" The Ravenclaw's tongue returned to normal. "There," he said, "no harm done. Now, could you please let go of us?"

Annabeth did not let go. She continued to glare at them.

The crowd waited in anticipation. Would there be a fight?

"No harm done?" Annabeth repeated incredulously. "_No harm done?_ Πώς τολμούν να κάνετε έναν ανόητο της κόρης του Αθηνάς*!" she cried furiously.

The two boys looked at each other, not exactly sure how to respond. She had just spoken Jibberish. "Um . . . sorry?" said George.

"You'd better be!" she spat. "Never, ever try anything like that again, or . . ." Annabeth put her hand on her pocket, slowly pulling out her bronze dagger just enough so that only they would be able to see.

They gasped, gawking at the blade. "Where did you get that?" one asked, his voice was hoarse.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out!" Annabeth said, and with that, she stalked away, leaving the two Gryffindors standing there is shock.

* * *

><p><strong>*Translation: How dare you make a fool of the daughter of Athena!<strong>

**Author's Notes: People with ADHD (including myself) will sometimes behave impulsively, especially when under stress. Annabeth was stressed and in a particularly bad mood, which pushed her to lose her temper in front of the Weasley twins. Normally she would have thought it out logically, but she was really angry at this point. People behave differently when they've been having a bad day. Fred and george just happened to be doing the wrong thing, to the wrong person, at the wrong time. Annabeth's pride was hurt, so, naturally, she was going to lash out.**

**The candy she had eaten was "Ton-Tongue Toffee". It was tested on Dudley Dursley in 1994, by the Weasley twins. The product causes one's tongue to turn purple and swell up.**

**What am I forgetting? Oh, yeah. The spell "Shrinkinus linguia", come from "Shrink lingua", which is Latin for "shrink tongue", I just changed it to make it more spell-like.**

**Harry Potter fact: J.K. Rowling's favorite animal is an otter. She also had admitted that she is allergic to cats and prefers dogs.**


	17. Chapter 17

**HappyHS: Good question. I was debating whether or not the Mist would work on wizards, but I decided that it didn't. This is due to the fact that they are already aware of magic, and do not need to interpret it in a logical sense. To them it is logic. Does that make sense? There should be more details about it later. By the way, I saw your reviews for A New Twist, I'm so glad you like it!**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: She makes us all laugh. **

**darklilyofthevalley: I'm pretty sure I put a translation at the bottom, but just in case it said: "Hoe dare you make a fool of the daughter of Athena!"**

**max artemis potter: Unfortunately, no. OOP specifically lists the people in the DA, and since I'm trying to keep both plot lines in order, that won't work. A shame, really. She would be great at it!**

**superawesomejennifer-thatme: Maybe.**

**hAdesLythErinmadrigalX: Tell me about it!**

**Cookie05: I once had that song stuck in my head for nearly a week! I drove my family completely insane. Anyway, thanks for the movie list. My dad agrees and said I only need to watch the first.**

**Glass of H20: Thank you.**

**Masterofbugs123: You'll find out soon enough.**

**Lieutenant Winter: Thanks, hopefully I didn't disappoint.**

* * *

><p>Annabeth lay flat on her bed, staring at the canopy above her. It was approximately two o'clock in the morning. Annabeth had been lying in this position for several hours.<p>

_How could I have been so _stupid_?_ she asked herself for the umpteenth time. She had acted on impulse and emotion! What was wrong with her? She was supposed to be able to control these things!

And the dagger! How could she have been so careless? They had seen the dagger! They shouldn't have even been able to see it. Right? Could wizards see through the Mist? Great, just great. Now everybody was going to think that she was some crazed, murderous lunatic. So much for keeping a low profile.

* * *

><p>If Vaisey had not seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.<p>

The Weasley twins were not particularly popular with everyone, but even most of the Slytherins agreed they were good for a laugh. He had never seen anybody so angry before. He would never forget the look in her eyes. He shuddered involuntarily. He decided to never cross that girl.

"You're in my seat."

Aleron Vaisey looked up to see a pair of cold steel-grey eyes glaring down at him. The eyes belonged to a pale, pointed face with neatly parted platinum-blond hair. It was none other than the Slytherin Prince himself, Draco Malfoy. The boy stood there, with his two goons, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregorey Goyle, towering over him. Vaisey, not wanting any trouble, obeyed and got out of the chair.

One of the goons shoved him.

"Hey!" protested Vaisey indignantly, "What was that for? I moved!"

"You shouldn't have been there in the first place!" Malfoy snarled. His goons grunted in agreement. "That should teach you some respect." Draco stretched and put his feet up on the stool in front of him, knocking over an unfortunate second-year in the process.

"Careful, Malfoy," said Blaise, "your ego is showing."

Draco's face turned from nearly white to bright red. "Yes, because you're such an honorable person yourself, Zabini! If my father was here . . ." everyone groaned.

"Really, Malfoy, you need to get some new material," Zabini replied casually, "It's always 'Potter this', 'my father that'. It's getting old."

Malfoy scowled. "Last time I checked, I was the perfect!"

"What are you going to do? Take away House points?"

"Why, I ought to . . . "

Zabini waved his hand at him, clearly bored by the conversation. He returned his attention to the two girls he was sitting between.

Vaisey tried not to giggle, and continued doodling in his notebook. Unfortunately, Malfoy noticed this. His focus reverted back to the eleven-year-old. "Think this is funny, do you?" he demanded. Vaisey shrugged, but anyone could seen he was about to lose it. Draco went over and picked up his notebook. "What this?" he asked in a mocking voice, "a diawry?"

Vaisey's eyes widened. "Give that back!" he shouted.

"Make me," the older boy said. Draco opened the book. To his disappointment, it was not a diary, but rather a notebook full of drawings. Malfoy flipped through the pages, trying to find something that he could use to humiliate the boy. To his great dismay, he found nothing.

"Real manly," he muttered.

"Says the boy who spends an hour on his hair every morning," Zabini muttered.

Draco glared at him. "Will you SHUT UP?" He handed the book back to Vaisey. "Here, take your stupid book. I am not sure why I'm surprised. You take after you father, I suppose."

The tips of Aleron's ears urned red. The look on his face was so melancholy, that for a second it seemed as though he would cry. But Slytherins did not cry. Vaisey snatched back the book and ran to him dorm, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

><p>"Did you see . . . ?"<p>

" . . . The look in her eyes . . ."

" . . . Like she was going to . . ."

Annabeth kept her head down, walking quickly through the hallways, trying to ignore the other children's whispers.

She received many dirty looks from the students, the Gryffindors in particular. Some people even seemed afraid of her, but most were just angry. They muttered things about how she couldn't take a joke and whatnot. Annabeth scowled. _They don't know what they're talking about,_ Annabeth reasoned. She had an excellent sense of humor.

Annabeth sat quietly and took notes in potions, glad to actually have to have a distraction from her misery. It was a double period, and Annabeth sat in the back of the room instead of her usual seat next to Vaisey. She couldn't afford any distractions. Had she been paying attention to her Slytherin friend, she would have noticed that he appeared to be rather grief-stricken as well, but Aleron was not her main focus.

* * *

><p>Forrest Harper was not a particularly affectionate or sensitive person. But even he couldn't help but feel bad when he saw the look on his Housemate's face. He had figured Vaisey would bounce back in a day or two, but he was wrong. If anything, the kid became more and more depressed each day. Harper had been debating whether or not to say anything to him, and on Thursday night, he finally made his move.<p>

He entered the dorm to see the boy sitting on his bed. He looked as bitter as ever. Harper sighed. "Hey Vaisey, you alright there, mate?" he asked.

Vaisey looked positively morbid. His eyes were red and swollen, as if he had been crying for hours. Harper was stunned, to say the very least. In all the years they had known each other, never once had he seen Vaisey cry. This also made him confused. Was he really that upset over Malfoy? That didn't sound like him at all.

"Why do you care?" he demanded coldly.

"I . . . " Harper shuffled his feet awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Why did he care? "You didn't show up for class, today," he said. "I - - I mean, Chase was wondering about you. I personally couldn't care less."

Vaisey's eyes softened a bit. Harper smirked. Normally, at this point he wold make a joke about Vaisey fancying her, but not this time. He sat down on the bed next to the closest thing he had to a friend.

"How is she?" Vaisey asked. "Annabeth, I mean. I feel like I've avoiding her the past couple of days. She seemed upset about something."

"You've been avoiding everyone," Forrest pointed out. He looked down at the floor and noticed that Vaisey's trunk was packed. "What's going on?" he asked. "You're not **still** upset about Malfoy, are you?"

Once again, Vaisey looked extremely somber. Harper thought that he wasn't going to say anything, but instead he whispered. "It's Kayla."

"Oh." Kayla was Aleron's little sister. She wasn't old enough to go to Hogwarts yet. Harper didn't understand what the problem was. "Yeah, how is she?"

"She's dead."

Forrest's mouth suddenly felt dry. "Dead?" the word sounded strange to him, almost foreign. He had heard of people who died. His mother had died, but had never gotten a chance to know her. This was different. He had lived next door to the Vaisey's for as long as he could remember. He had been invited to their house. He had played Quidditch in their yard. He knew Kayla. Everyone hears about people dying, but you never think it would happen to someone you know. "Wh-when did this happen?"

"She had disappeared earlier this week, but I never thought . . . I didn't realize . . ." Vaisey struggled to find words as he felt a sudden lump in his throat. "I got the owl this morning. They found her body. My dad's coming to pick me up for the funeral," his eyes were watery, just the verge of tears. "No one can know," Vaisey said, looking up. "Promise?"

Harper nodded. He was appalled and horrified . . . yet, at the same time, quite intrigued. He wanted to find out more. "Do . . . do they know how it happened?"

Aleron's lip quivered slightly. Harper pretended not to notice. "My parents think it was the killing curse, but of course the Ministry doesn't want to hear of it," there were no words Harper could use to describe the look of misery of Vaisey's face. "It's them," he whispered. "The Death Eaters, they're coming."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry to end that chapter on such a low note.<strong>

**At last, the long awaited chapter has come. This story is finally starting to develop a plot. Future chapters will include Rose Zeller, a bit of the Weasley twins, some more Theodore Nott, and a certain Jack Russell Terrier and Abyssinian cat. **

**Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you for all of your reviews!**

**hAdesLythErinmadrigalX: Believe or not, I actually am rather fond of Draco myself. I just wanted to make sure he stayed in character.**

**Cookie05: Cool, I think my dad's renting it this weekend.**

**darklilyofthevalley: Yes, that is implied. Annabeth most certainly thought of Thalia that way. She will find out, just not yet.**

**superawesomejennifer-thatme: Thank you!**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: They would, we just don't see a lot of Slytherin perspective. If you remember, Vaisey's family was trying to stay neutral. The death Eaters are not fond of cowards. Kayla's death had been a warning. **

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: So do I!**

**Masterofbugs123: My thoughts exactly.**

**Daughter of Artemis: Thanks! **

**Thank you all for your patience, I know it has been a longer wait than usual. **

* * *

><p>When Annabeth had come down the next morning, she was in a much better mood. That night she had her first chance to actually sort things out. She had come to the conclusion that while her actions may have been careless, it didn't do to dwell in the past.<p>

Annabeth entered the Great Hall and scanned the room for Vaisey. He was nowhere to be found. Annabeth shrugged and assumed he was just late, they'd sit together in potions later.

But to her dismay, he wasn't there either. She had asked several students if they knew where he might have gone, but none of them seemed to know. And Harper was oddly quiet the entire morning. He shared a room with Vaisey, didn't he? Maybe he would know what was going on. This, of course, would be a last resort, but as the day wore on, Annabeth found she could wait no longer and approached Harper during study hall.

Annabeth cornered the Slytherin boy before he knew what hit him. "Alright, what gives?" she demanded, "you haven't made a single bad joke or obnoxious comment all day."

Harper pretended to look confused. "What are you talking about? I don't know anything about Vaisey!"

"I never said anything about him."

Forrest cursed under his breath. He looked at Annabeth, and then seemed to come to his senses. "Hey, what are you doing on top of me? Get off!" he began to kick and squirm. "Leave me alone!"

"What happened to Aleron?" Annabeth's voice was low and dangerous.

Harper scowled. "It's none of your business!"

"What? What is none of my business?" she was dying to find out what Harper knew about her friend.

Now Harper actually grinned, and Annabeth knew she had made the wrong move. Now he knew that he had something that she wanted. He had an advantage over her because she had shown weakness. "I'll tell you if you get off of me," he said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Yeah, how stupid do you think I am? Just tell me and I'll let you go. Why is that so hard?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, Chase," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "I can't tell you. Slytherin's honor."

"You're making that up!" she accused.

Harper cocked an eyebrow. He was totally enjoying this. "Am I?" he asked slyly.

"I'm not playing games with you, Harper!"

"Neither am I," said Harper, getting up and dusting himself off. "Look, if you care so much, wait for Vaisey to get back and then ask him yourself." He was gone before Annabeth could say anything more.

* * *

><p>Saturday night, Annabeth met Seamus Finnigan in the Hogwarts Library for their tutoring session. The Irish boy looked as sullen as ever.<p>

Annabeth, who had not gotten any further in her search for Aleron, was not fairing much better. She slammed her books onto the table in anger. "Hi," she grunted.

"Nice to see you so cheerful," he muttered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I just want to get this done," she pulled out a roll of parchment and began to write, every now and then muttering something under her breath. This was so hard, if only they let her write in Ancient Greek . . . .

Suddenly, she stopped. "Hey, Seamus?" Annabeth said, "do you know if there are any spells that can translate writing into other languages?"

Finnigan blinked, confused. Why would want a spell for other languages? The girl could hardly write in English!

He was about to answer, when Annabeth put her to finger to her lips. "Shh," she said, "listen."

At first Seamus did not know what she was talking about, but after a couple of seconds, he heard it, too: someone was shouting. They listened for a couple more seconds, the shouting did not cease. If anything, it grew louder and louder. And more and more annoying.

Annabeth groaned. "I can't concentrate with that noise!" she complained, standing up.

Seamus took the hint, and reluctantly followed.

* * *

><p><em>She looks so pretty in white,<em> Vaisey thought, as they lowered the body into the casket. Kayla looked as she always had. A petite, yet elegant frame, with her long dark hair tied in two neat braids. _So innocent and young . . ._ he saw the world cloud up as his eyes became wet. Embarrassed, he took a quick look around to make sure that no one had seen, quickly wiping the tears off onto his sleeve. No, he was not going to cry anymore.

Aleron watched as his father closed her large, now lifeless, dark eyes. They would never open again.

She looked so peaceful, almost as if she were sleeping. Vaisey wished with all his heart that were so. He looked away as they began to lower the coffin.

"Wait!" Mrs. Vaisey cried. She pulled out a stuffed animal, a Hippogriff; it had been Kayla's favorite. She bent down and placed the toy into the coffin, giving her daughter one last kiss on the cheek. "I love you," she whispered. She had thought no one had heard, but was wrong.

Vaisey had seen every last detail. He felt the wetness in his eyes again, but this time he did not brush them away.

* * *

><p>Rose Zeller was a small, Hufflepuff girl. She had deep blue eyes, and red hair that was always extremely neat. Rose was shy and usually quiet, but cried rather easily, which made her an excellent target for bullies. Like now, for instance.<p>

"Give him back!" the eleven-year-old shrieked indignantly and two Slytherin boys played monkey in the middle with her (now petrified) cat. "Stop it!"

"You want it? Come and get it!" one of the boys taunted.

Rose was now crying. Felix, her beloved Abyssinian, was being thrown back and fourth between Graham Montague and Miles Bletchley. It was all her fault, it was her first attempt at Petrificus totalus and she had been aiming for the Venus Flytrap in the corner. How was she supposed to know Felix would jump up on the table at that very moment? She had been running to get help when Montague and Bletchley showed up and decided to have a little fun.

Rose ran between them, trying to catch the poor, frozen feline with no luck. It wasn't fair! The boys were older, bigger, and stronger than she was!

She tried to chase them down the corridor, maybe they'd run into a professor.

As the neared the entrance to library, they did run into someone. Two _someones_ in fact, but they were not professors.

"Oi," said one of the people, a boy who looked a couple years older than herself. He had sandy-coloured hair that could either be described as light brown or dirty blond, and his eyes were a dull shade of blue. Rose had seen the boy before, but couldn't recall his name. "What's going on 'ere?" the boy demanded.

"Yeah," the girl said, "some of us are trying to study!"

Rose recognized the girl instantly. It was Annabeth Chase, the Ravenclaw girl from America. Rose felt a spark of hope, Annabeth may have only been a first-year, but her magic was fairly powerful. And although she didn't know about the boy's, Rose was sure together they could take them. "T-they have m-m-my cat!" Rose said, she had been crying for so long that her voice quivered when she spoke.

Bletchley and Montague continued their game of catch, apparently they were not very threatened by the three.

Annabeth's eyes filled with rage when she realized what they were doing. "How did this happen?" she demanded.

Rose quickly told them what had happened, sniffling every now and then. Annabeth seemed to grow angrier and angrier.

The Ravenclaw girl turned to Seamus. "Quick, what's the counter-spell to _Petrificus totalus_?"

"Uh . . ." Seamus struggled to remember. "I think it's _Releaso_," he said, raising his wand. Unfortunately, Bletchley had seen him do so, and quickly disarmed him.

Annabeth didn't waste a second, with her wand raised, she shouted, _"Releaso!" _

Felix sprung back to life.

* * *

><p><strong>Harry Potter fact: For the Prisoner of Azkaban film, a new director was chosen. Upon meeting the three stars, he told each of them to write a first-person essay about their character. Emma Watson, who plays Hermione, wrote a seventeen-paged paper. Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, turned in a one-paged summery. And Ron's actor, Rupert Grint, ditched the essay and never turned it in!<strong>

**Please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**max artemis potter: Thanks**

**hAdesLythErinmadrigalX: She didn't need to. Don't underestimate the kitty!**

**Masterofbugs123: Don't worry, he does.**

**Unnamed-Anonymous-Reviewer: That's what I thought too**

**ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: I'm glad you liked it.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: She does.**

**miller123456: I agree. The movies were really well casted.**

* * *

><p>After the spell was said, everything happened rather quickly. Felix pounced on Bletchley's face and began tearing it to ribbons, while Montague screamed like a little girl and ran away, leaving his poor friend clutching his bloody face, howling in agony.<p>

"Felix!" Rose called, "Come here, boy!" The cat's ears perked up at the sound of his name, and ran over to her happily. Rose embraced the animal in a tight hug, while Felix purred affectionately. After the cuddly reunion, Rose stood up and walked over to Bletchley. She bent down and picked up an object that was lying near him. It was Finnigan's wand. She walked over to Seamus, smiling sheepishly, "I believe this belongs to you," she said, blushing.

Seamus took back his wand a bit awkwardly, trying to find the part with the least amount of blood on it. He cleared his throat, "Yes, well . . . um, that concludes our lesson for today!" he said quickly.

* * *

><p>After the incident Rose had decided that Annabeth was her best friend. She began to follow her places, and would often sit next to her in class. Annabeth was not pleased to say the least. She could not wait for Vaisey to get back so that she could have someone worth her company.<p>

And Vaisey did come back. The Slytherin boy returned on Wednesday, October 6. By this time, of course, Annabeth had found out the reason why he had left, but all she knew were the basics. Annabeth wanted to be mad at him. He should have told her! She would have understood. But no matter how much she tried, Annabeth knew that she wasn't really angry with him. After all, she could sympathize. Annabeth had never told him about Thalia. . . but should she? No, Annabeth decided, as least not yet.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Annabeth said, meeting up with her friend during their free period.<p>

Vaisey looked up, only half paying attention. "Hi," he said, forcing a sad smile.

Annabeth sat down next to him. Vaisey had a photograph in his hands. It was a picture of five people, two adults and three kids. The oldest was a boy around their age. He stood with his arms folded, and head up in the air, as if he were trying to look as important as possible. Next to him stood a slightly younger boy, he stood with a look of haughtiness only one child could muster. Annabeth knew that must've been Vaisey a couple years back. Standing in front of them, was a little girl, no older than five or six. She had long, dark hair that was in two pigtails. She waved frantically at the camera as if it were a long, lost relative. The girl was grinning so widely that it almost didn't look real.

It was then Annabeth noticed yet another figure, a small dog was bouncing up and down happily. The dog's tongue was sticking out, giving him an even more adorable appearance. It made her think of her own dog.

Annabeth pointed to the girl. "Is that her?" she asked Aleron. "Is that Kayla?"

Yeah," Vaisey said, trying not to sound too miserable. "This was around two and a half years ago, when we first got our Crup, Canis."

"You named your dog, 'dog'?" said Annabeth incredulously, "because that's what canis means in Latin."

The two looked at each other, and then, without warning, began laugh hysterically. It wasn't even that funny, but they laughed anyway. They laughed until they were tearing, and gripping their aching sides. It felt good, especially for Aleron. He needed a good laugh, and he knew it, too.

"Yeah . . . " said Aleron, barely stifling another giggle. "Yeah, my dad is not the world's most creative person." He looked back at the picture longingly. "She really did love that dog. We all did, but she was his favorite. They would play together for hours. That's why I had to do it."

Annabeth blinked in confusion. What was he talking about?

"Come with me," Vaisey said.

Annabeth, still unsure of what was going on, cautiously followed. Vaisey led her down many long, twisted corridors. There was no way Annabeth could have found her way back even if she wanted to.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, she said, "Okay, Vaisey. I've been following you around for twenty minutes. What kind of game is this; where are we going?"

Aleron opened his mouth to respond, but then quickly closed it again. Vaisey grabbed Annabeth by her sleeve, and the two of them ducked under a table.

"What the - -"

Vaisey put a finger to his lips, indicating that she should be quiet. "Someone's coming," he mouthed silently.

The two of them watched as a couple pairs of shoes made their way down the hall. The feet ever-so-conviniently decided to stop just in front of their hiding spot. Luckily, the owners of the shoes had their backs turned. They spoke in hushed whispers, as if they didn't want anyone to overhear.

"Honestly, Nott. I don't understand why you are being so difficult," said a voice. Aleron recognized it to be the voice of Draco Malfoy.

"I already told you everything I knew. Father only lets me in on so much, after all."

"Yeah," Malfoy agreed, "my father never tells me anything, either. He says it's not my place, and that I should just keep quiet. I mean, how can he say that? Look at us, nearly of age, and our parents still treat us like children!" Draco stamped his foot like a five-year-old. "It's not fair!" he whined. Malfoy stopped, noticing his friend's smug expression. "Why are you smirking like that, Nott? What aren't you telling me?"

"I would love to share, Draco. But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like you," and with that, he left.

"Hey!" Malfoy called. "Hey, what are you - - you can't - - get back here, Theodore! I'm not done with you, yet! You will show me some respect! I am your superior!" He ran after the boy.

Vaisey and Annabeth waited until the footsteps died. Then, they got up and dusted themselves off. "That was close."

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed. "Now, what were you going to show me?"

"Oh yeah," Vaisey smirked. He turned around, and pushed a painting aside, behind it, was a secret room.

"Cool!" Annabeth said excitedly. She followed her friend inside of the chamber eagerly.

Aleron sighed. "My brother told me about this place. Few students know about it. I thought it would be the best place to . . . to . . . well, see for yourself." He pulled out something from the corner of the room. It was so dark that Annabeth couldn't see.

"What is it?"

Vaisey brought the cage closer, slowly Annabeth began to make out the shape. "Is that a cage?"

He nodded, and opened the latch, and a small dog stepped out. Annabeth guessed a Jack Russell. It was white with brown patches. The dog's ears were folded in cute little V-shapes. It ran up to them, tails wagging madly.

_Wait, tails?_

"Um . . . why does he . . . ?"

"I already told you: Canis is a Crup," he met Annabeth blank expression. "A Crup is a wizard-bred dog. They resemble a Jack Russell Terrier in appearance, but have a forked tail. Most of the time it's docked at a very young age. My dad doesn't believe in doing that, though. He said it takes away their identity."

Annabeth scowled at him. How could he be so irresponsible? "Why did you bring him here?" she hissed angrily.

"Look, I didn't want to!" he said, defensively. "But I couldn't let the Ministry take him! They've been after my dad for months. You need a license to own them, you see. They need to be controlled in muggle areas, because they're naturally aggressive towards them. Dad told them that it was okay. We never go in muggle-populated places, anyways. But the Ministry took none of it. They showed up two days after the funeral. Can you believe it? Two days! That's all the time they gave us! You don't just get over something like that in two days!" Vaisey felt his yes become very wet. He turned away quickly and wiped them. He turned back to Annabeth and continued. "They told us we could have a couple more days with him, but then they would take him away. I couldn't let them do that! I _had_ to bring him with me! If I didn't, Canis would be put in holding, and if no one adopted him within a week, they'll put him down."

Annabeth was not usually one to confide in others, or have them confide in her, for that matter. She sighed. "My dad and I used to have a dog," she said quietly. "He was a Doberman Pinscher named Rex."

"Then you, of all people, would know what I mean!" his eyes were pleading with her.

"Why do you want me to help you?" she asked.

There was a pause. "Because you're the smartest person I know," he whispered.

Annabeth was taken aback by the compliment. It was true, of course. She hesitated. "Alright, I'll help you. First we need to think of a dog's basic needs: food, water, shelter, a place to relieve himself, ect."

"Food's no problem," answered Vaisey confidently, "Crups are scavengers. They'll eat almost anything. I can feed him scraps from meals."

Annabeth nodded, "but he'll need a place to stay. We obviously can't keep him in our dorms, and someone is bound to notice if we keep him here."

Aleron opened his mouth to speak, but it was someone else who answered. "Perhaps I can be of assistance." Theodore Nott stepped out from the shadows.

* * *

><p><strong>Fun fact: Teenagers are impulsive, and Harry Potter is no exception. This is because the part of the brain that helps you think things through is one of the last parts to develop. It takes longer for boys than for girls - - which might explain why Hermione is always more prepared than her partners in crime. <strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**Daughter Of Artemis: As I have said before, the Golden Trio can only be in this story so much. My goal is to try to stay with both cannons, and the trick to doing that is to have the main characters interact as little as possible. We will be seeing them again, however, fairly soon.**

**max artemis potter: Thank you. Me, my dad, and my little sister were watching the sixth movie and when Harry snuck into the Slytherin compartment she kept saying how stupid he was. My dad told us the fact, and I thought it would be interesting to put in.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: Thanks.**

**darklilyofthevalley: Thank you.**

**Cookie05: That's what I thought, too.**

* * *

><p>Vaisey suddenly grew quite pale. "H-how much did you hear?" he asked nervously. The poor kid looked as if he might faint.<p>

Nott's lip curled up into a sneer. Annabeth supposed that was the closest thing he could get to smile. "Enough" was his enigmatic reply.

Vaisey made a slightly pathetic-sounding noise from his throat - - almost like a whimper. Canis ran back into the crawl space. Without thinking, he reached for Annabeth's hand and squeezed it tightly. Annabeth was so surprised that she didn't even pull it away immediately. But as soon as she came to her senses, she did (and smacked Aleron on the head, for good measure.) "Stop being a baby," she said.

Annabeth stepped towards the boy, not the least bit intimidated. "You said that you could help us, how? And what makes us think that we can trust you?"

Aleron's jaw dropped in horror, looking absolutely shocked that Annabeth had the nerve to question Theodore Nott. The older boy, however, appeared, if anything, bemused. He turned to Aleron. "Would you be so kind as to excuse us for a moment, Vaisey? I would like to speak to Miss Chase privately if you don't mind."

Vaisey looked at Annabeth nervously. "Uh . . ."

She forced a smile. "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

Aleron, although rather hesitantly, began to step away. He turned around at the last second. "I'll wait for you in the main - - "

"GO!"

He nodded, and left.

Annabeth glared at Nott. "Okay, so you got what you wanted. We're alone. But I swear, if you try anything, I'll - -"

"Do what?" Theodore asked mockingly, "stab me with your dagger?"

Annabeth froze. The dagger! How did he know?

Nott laughed at her perplexed expression. "I have my ways," he said, seemingly reading her mind; his eyes gleamed with a look of pure genius, or complete madness, "daughter of Athena."

Annabeth froze again. There was no way she could have heard that last part correctly. The dagger was one thing, but there was no way he could have possibly know that. Unless . . .

"Monster!" Annabeth cried, charging at the teenager with her dagger. It sliced right through him, doing no damage whatsoever. Oops. Okay, so he was mortal. But then how . . . ?

Theodore seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden violent attack, but he regained his posture quickly enough. "I take Ancient Runes," he said, as of that explained everything. "I am also fluent in several different languages. That day with the Weasleys, you said that you were the daughter of Athena, and then you pulled out that dagger. I recognized the design immediately."

Annabeth forced a nervous laugh. "You thought that . . . ? Oh, gods - - god! As for the whole 'daughter of Athena' thing, that's just a saying where I come from."

"Yet you're in Ravenclaw, the House for the wise. You prefer to write in Greek - - the language of the gods. And you have a fascination of architecture, the very thing many children of Athena were said to have had. Tracey Davis mention several weeks ago that you apparently threw a muffin into fire, which burnt in a strange way - - a sacrifice of some sort, no doubt. The others may not see it, but I am no fool, Annabeth Chase. I said I would help your friend's dog, and I meant it, too. That is, provided you give me something in return."

Annabeth was nervous. This boy was awfully observant. It was beginning to creep her out. Without the dagger, she was basically defenseless against the boy. She may have talented for her year, but next to him, she did not stand a chance. The most advanced spells she could preform were only at a second-year level. She gulped, her chances were not good. The boy clearly wasn't stupid, and he knew it, too. He wanted something from her. It had nothing to do with the dog.

Trying her best to remain cocky, Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"I cannot tell you until I am certain that this will be completely confidential. You mustn't tell a single soul."

"Okay, fine. I won't tell anyone about your . . . whatever, if you don't tell anyone about the Crup. In other words, give me a reason to trust you, and we'll see."

This time Theodore smiled for real. It was a frightening sight. Once again, his eyes seemed to shine. "Deal," he said. "Now, let's go fetch your friend, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Aleron Vaisey paced back and fourth anxiously. Of all the people who could have found them, it had to be Theodore Nott. His brother had warned him about Nott.<p>

"Whatever you do, you do not want to get on his bad side," he said. "Of all the people you can make enemies with, he may be the worst."

"Worse than Draco Malfoy?" asked Aleron in a quivering voice.

His brother laughed. "Let's put it this way: compared to Nott, Malfoy is about as threatening as a Pygmy Puff!"

He shuddered. What was he doing to Annabeth in there? He suddenly felt guilty for leaving her. Should he get help? No, Vaisey decided. For all he knew, they could have been talking about the weather. If he got a professor and it turned out to be nothing, then he would definitely have Nott on his bad side.

But even as Annabeth ran over to him, telling him about the plan, Aleron remained uneasy.

"I don't know, Annabeth," he said. "This isn't just any bloke we're talking about, it's Theodore bloody Nott!"

"Why? What's so bad about him?"

Vaisey spoke in a voice that was barely a whisper, Annabeth had to lean in to hear properly. "The Nott's are huge supporters of You-Know-Who. And unlike most, they don't hide it either. They're proud to be working for a mass murderer. His father was one of the original followers. There are only a hand full left."

"Do you want to help Canis or not?" she demanded, "if I would have had a chance like this with Rex, then - -"

"Are you coming or not?" Nott asked. Both eleven-year-olds jumped. They hadn't known he was there.

"Yes," Annabeth said, "we are."

* * *

><p>Nott led them to a remote corridor on the seventh floor. Abruptly, he stopped.<p>

The fifteen-year-old looked around, studying the area. "This should be the place," he said. Theodore turned to Vaisey. "Do you have the dog?"

Aleron nodded, holding up a cage.

"Good. Now, here's what I want you to do: pace back and forth in front of that wall. Think really hard about what you want. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good, now go."

Vaisey was confused, but he said nothing and silently obeyed the older boy. Sure enough, after only a couple of paces, a door appeared in the wall.

The three stepped inside.

"Welcome," said Theodore Nott, "to the Room of Requirement."

* * *

><p><strong>Harry Potter fact: After his twin's death, George Weasley could never produce a full patronus charm again. He continued to work at his joke shop, and was later joined by Ron after he retired from being an Auror.<strong>

**Random fact that has nothing to do with Harry Potter: About 700 people die from toasters every year.**

**Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**darklilyofthevalley: Thank you.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: I'm not entirely sure. I suspect they explode. **

**Cookie05: I remember. I wasn't thinking of that when I wrote it, but you're right. It is a bit creepy.**

**miller123456789: See my comment to ButterflyFlyToMe.**

**Helen and Nikola44: I think that's only in the American versions.**

**Glass of H20: Yeah, it's pretty funny.**

* * *

><p><em>"No!" five-year-old Annabeth Chase clung to her pet stubbornly. "No! No! No!"<em>

_"Come on, Annabeth. It's not so bad. It's just across the street, you can see him every day if you want to."_

_The little girl shook her head vigorously, refusing to let go of the animal's collar. "But he's mine! I don't want him living with some stranger!"_

_"You know Mrs. Johnson," Fredrick protested, "she's not a stranger. She picks you up from school three times a week! Her house is practically your second home."_

_Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "I don't like that place. It smells funny, and her chocolate cake is horrible. Rex would hate it there, he can smell, like, six billion times better than me. Imagine how horrible that would be for him! Besides, he's my dog."_

_"Technically, I bought the dog, so, therefore, he's mine."_

_"No, technically, you bought the dog for me. That makes him mine. Because if you give someone a gift, it becomes officially theirs. It's a law," she stated simply._

_Fredrick Chase shook his head, trying get his thoughts straight. For a five-year-old, Annabeth was incredibly intelligent. There were some days when he thought that she was smarter than he was. Yet again, considering her mother, that shouldn't come as a surprise. "Annabeth, I am not going to argue with you. Your mother is very allergic to him, we can't keep the dog."_

_"Why don't we just kick her out of house? The dog was here first."_

_"ANNABETH!" she jumped back, surprised by his sudden outburst. "But, Annabeth, sweetie," he said in a much calmer voice, "she's your mother."_

_"She is _not_ my mother!" Annabeth said, "and she never will be."_

* * *

><p>Theodore gave them a couple of moment to gaze upon the sight before them in awe. It was perfect. There was a bed in the corner, a small grassy area for Canis to do his business, and tons of dog toys all over the floor.<p>

"Well this is . . . convenient."

Nott nodded. "The room of requirement is especially designed to comply to the user's needs. Only a handful of people know about it to begin with."

Annabeth's eyes widened. _"Anything?"_ she asked incredulously.

"Well, within reason. You cannot wish for a person to appear, or a particular object you know to appear, unless it was placed inside. It also doesn't made food appear. But it works with most general objects. For instance, if I wanted a whistle . . ." a small silver whistle appeared in his hand.

Vaisey said, "So let's say that I really had to use the loo . . . . " As if on cue, a single bathroom stall appeared in the middle of the room. "Excuse me for a moment," Aleron dashed inside.

"But what if somebody were to find this place?" Annabeth asked, "I don't see any security of anything all to insure protection."

"Like I said before, few people know about this place. And even if someone were to stumble upon it, the room only gives them what they need. Vaisey wanted a place to keep his dog, so the Room of Requirement gave it to him. Somebody else may be running from Filch, and would need a place to hide from him, so the room may appear in the form of a small crawl space for them. So unless the person specifically wishes for a room with a Slytherin boy's hidden Crup, we should be safe."

Aleron came out from the stall. A sink appeared, and he washed his hands.

"I think you forgot about somebody."

"Oh! Right," Vaisey walked up to the cage and let Canis out. "Here you are, boy," he said, "freedom!"

The dog walked around the room, sniffing all of the mysterious, new objects. Then, deciding that he was satisfied with the new territory, Canis rubbed his head against the grassy area, and then began to do a full body roll **(for those you who have dogs, chances are that you know what I'm talking about.)**

"It's perfect!" cried Aleron happily. "Thank you so much!"

WOOF! Canis agreed.

* * *

><p>Annabeth was in such a good mood that she was sure nothing could ruin her day.<p>

"Hey, Chase," came two simultaneous voices.

Almost nothing.

Annabeth turned to face Fred and George. "What do you want?" she demanded.

The two boys looked a bit nervous. They shuffled their feet awkwardly. "Well, we were just thinking - -"

"- - That we oughtn't have done what we did to you."

"Yeah, we're sorry."

"And we want to make it up to you."

"We're creating a joke shop, you see - - "

"It's called 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'!"

"And we're willing to give you a free sample on one of our products."

Annabeth was surprised to say the least. Did they really want to make it up to her, or was it just another prank? She raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "No tricks?" she asked.

"None. We swear."

"Why?"

They shrugged. One of them answered a bit sheepishly. "It's good advertising. Good for business."

"Yeah, as long as you say where you got them from."

Annabeth hesitated. They seemed sincere enough, and if they tried anything, she would be sure to make their lives a living hell. "Okay," she said, "sure."

* * *

><p>Ever since Vaisey's return, Rose had been avoiding Annabeth. She was scared of Slytherins, which Chase found quite amusing. But for some odd reason, Rose had built up the courage to talk to Annabeth with Aleron around that day.<p>

"Hi, Annabeth," she said shyly, glancing nervously at the Slytherin boy.

Annabeth did not respond, she was busy flipping through the pages of her architecture book, while furiously sketching out a random building.

"I was . . . um . . . wondering if you wanted to . . . um . . . "

"Well?" Vaisey demanded impatiently, "get on with it!"

"I'm having my twelfth birthday this weekend. Would you like to come?" she held out an invitation to her. Rose casted Aleron a dirty look, "of course, you wouldn't want to come."

Aleron rolled his eyes. Was that supposed to offend him? "That's right. I don't want anything to do with you, or your stupid party."

Annabeth, still hunched over her book, did not seem to notice the quibble. She was furiously sketching something in her notebook. The two momentarily stopped arguing when Annabeth, deciding that she didn't like the drawing, began to viciously stab it with her pencil.

"Um . . . Annabeth?" Rose asked a bit nervously.

"Don't bother," said Vaisey, "she gets completely absorbed. It's like trying to talk to a Muggle portrait," he paused, slightly ashamed for knowing that.

Rose, though, reached her hand over, and tapped Annabeth on the shoulder. Getting no response, the frustrated Hufflepuff reached for the notbook, trying to pul it away. The reaction was immediate, as soon as she extended her arm for the sketchpad, Annabeth grabbed it in midair. "Nobody. Touches. My. Stuff," she hissed, careful to emphasize each word.

Zeller nodded vigorously, as Aleron howled with laughter.

"I'm s-sorry. I just wanted to tell you something."

"Well, you have my attention. Spit it out."

"I was wondering if you would come to my birthday party this Saturday," she held out a flier.

"Yeah, sure," said Annabeth, accepting the invitation and then resuming her work. "We'd love to come."

"_We?"_ said Rose.

_"We?"_ said Aleron.

But Annabeth was already long lost in her book.

* * *

><p><strong>The part about Annabeth getting mad at someone for touching her stuff was based off of something Percy said in one of the books "Annabeth only uses her knife for two things: monsters and people who touch her stuff".<strong>

**Harry Potter Fact: Everything thirty seconds (roughly) someone in the world starts reading a Harry Potter book. **

**Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Cookie05: Cool.**

**max artemis potter: Thanks.**

**unnamed anonymous reviewer: Thank you, I'm so glad you like it! :)**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: Something tells me that you like the Rangers.**

**darklilyofthevalley: Yeah, I thought so too.**

**AnnabethWeasley22: Thank you.**

**SGWLESSUIT: Thanks, I'm really glad you think so. The name Vaisey actually does appear in one of the Harry Potter books. Ron claims that he's the best Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch Team, but apparently was hit in the head by a bludger. The way I see it, that could be referring to Aleron or his older brother who he sometimes talks about.**

* * *

><p>"But I don't want to go!" Vaisey protested angrily. It had been several days since Rose had first invited them, and no matter how much he complained, Annabeth took none of it. "Besides," the Slytherin boy added, "I'm pretty sure she doesn't want me there either."<p>

"I really do not care," replied Annabeth. "You are not going to weasel your way out of this one. There is no way I am going to that party alone. And besides," she added slyly, "you owe me one."

Aleron groaned. It was true, he did owe her. He owed her big time. But still, why did it have to be this? He would do anything else, anything other than go to that Hufflepuff's stupid party. It just wasn't fair.

Rose's birthday party was being held in Hogsmeade. And although first-years were usually not allowed in the wizard village, Zeller had managed to talk her parents into working something out. As long as they had an invitation.

As the two made their way over to the town, something began to circle them overhead. It was Admete, Annabeth's owl. Chase and Vaisey stopped, waiting for the bird to come.

Admete swooped down and landed on Annabeth's shoulder. The perched bird stuck out her talon, waiting patiently for the young girl to take it.

Opening the note, she saw it was written in Greek. It read:

_Meet me at the secret place. There are matters we need to discuss. Come alone. _

_-Nott_

Annabeth scribbled back a reply on the back and sent her owl off. She turned to Aleron. "Okay, funny story. You see, something just came up and I have to meet Nott. He said to come alone, but if you're so desperate to get out of going to that party, you can join me if you want."

Vaisey shook his head quickly. "No way. If Nott says to go alone, you go alone and hope he'll give you a painless death. I'd rather go to the party!"

Annabeth nodded, slightly amused. She had anticipated this. "Okay, so you go to the party. Tell Rose I'm just running a little late. And when I get there, you better be present."

Aleron didn't know why, but he decided that he better not cross Annabeth. He could always hide in the loo until she came, claiming that he had a stomach ache, but something told him that she would see though his lie instantly. So he reluctantly agreed to the terms.

* * *

><p>Not in any rush to reach the party, Aleron took his sweet time getting there. On his way, Vaisey noticed an abnormally large group of students making their way towards Hogshead. Aleron didn't know all of their names, but he recognized some. It was an odd group that included several of the Weasleys, Smith, the Patils, and even that annoying mudblood from their class. They didn't seem like the kind of people who would get along.<p>

Instantly Aleron's mind filled with questions. _Why were they headed towards Hogshead? What were they doing? And why did they look so skittish?_ Overcome by his curiosity, Vaisey hid in the bushes, and decided to do what Slytherins do best: snoop.

The Weasley girl kept glancing around nervously, as if to make sure no one was following them - - which, coincidently, was exactly what Vaisey was doing. He smirked. Oh, the irony.

"What'cha doin'?"

"Ahh!" Vaisey cried. He looked at the group. Thankfully nobody had heard. Aleron turned to face . . . Harper. He rolled his eyes. Of course. It was just his luck that of all people to catch him spying, it would be him. "Be quiet!" he hissed.

Harper laughed. "What's this?" he asked in mock surprise, "Aleron Vaisey, _spying_? Wow, and all this time I thought you were just a goody-two-shoes. Maybe you a Slytherin, after all."

"Shut up," he growled. "You're not even supposed to be here. It's for third-years and up only."

"I could ask you the same question, or do rules not apply to you?"

"I happen to be going to a birthday party. I have special permission to visit the village." _Oh no, the party! _He had completely forgotten. Annabeth was going to kill him.

"Okay," said Harper, "but I'm pretty sure spying on people from the bushes is not part of the party," he grinned slyly. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Oh, Vaisey. You naughty, naughty little boy."

"Says the kid who snuck out. Just keep silent," he ordered, and crept closer to the group.

" . . . You sure this is a good idea?" one of the boys asked. "I mean, what if we're caught? I promised my parents that I wouldn't get into any trouble this year."

"But the trouble is justified!" a Hufflepuff girl protested. Several of the others nodded in agreement.

Aleron and Forrest exchanged glances. Harper raised his eyebrows and Vaisey just shrugged. They continued to listen.

"Besides," said another, "if anyone can do it, Potter can. I mean, who better to teach us then 'The Boy Who Lived' himself?"

Harper snorted. "More like 'The Boy Who Just Wouldn't Die'!" even Vaisey cracked a smile.

"Keep your voices down," a Ravenclaw ordered, "we don't want any trouble."

The others nodded and soon their conversation turned into inaudible murmurs. And after straining their ears to listen for several minutes without success, the two boys finally gave up.

"Well," Harper said, getting up and dusting himself off, "that was pointless." He looked down at his pants, they were now covered in dirt. "Great," he muttered, "Mum's going to have a fit."

"What do you think they were talking about?" asked Vaisey, "It sounded like they were forming some sort of club, and Potter is going to be their leader. Do you realize what this means?"

The other boy looked bewildered for a moment, and then nodded in understanding. No words needed to be exchanged, for they both shared the same one: blackmail.

"We'll need to find out more information before doing anything," Vaisey said, "Annabeth can help, too."

"Fine," Harper agreed. His companion began sprinting in the other direction. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To the party." If he wanted Annabeth's help, he would have to start by getting on her good side.

* * *

><p>Aleron was sure that by the time he reached the party he would come face to face with a glaring Annabeth demanding to know why he was late. Vaisey spent the walk trying to come up with semi-believable excuses as to why. But, surprisingly, when he finally reached the place Annabeth wasn't there. In fact, there was only one person present. Rose Zeller sat on the floor crying.<p>

He stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Is the party over already?" he asked. But the little girl seemed to have not heard him, she was too lost in her tears. "Hello?" he said a bit more loudly. No response. Now angry, Vaisey shouted, "Hey, Zeller!"

This time Rose looked up. Seeing the Slytherin boy, she quickly stood up and wiped her tears away. She glared at him. "What are **you** doing here?"

"I was invited."

Rose looked down, "Oh," she said. Suddenly she stomped her foot. Pointing her index finger at him, as if accusing the boy of some horrible crime, she cried, "It was YOU! YOU did it! This is your fault! YOU told them not to come!"

"Told who - - " Vaisey stopped as he realized what must have happened. Nobody had shown up. That's why she had been crying. He instantly felt a pang of guilt for not wanting to come, but with one look into those cold eyes and all pity for the girl vanished. How could she possible accuse him of doing such a thing? It wasn't fair. "Has the thought ever occurred to you that perhaps nobody showed up because they all hate you?" he asked, his voice drawling nastily.

Zeller froze. Clearly, the idea had never once struck her. Her blue eyes watered and for one horrible moment Vaisey thought that she was going to cry again, but she didn't. Instead she said, "then why did you come?"

"I came because Annabeth wanted me to. But seeing that I am clearly not welcome, I will just be on my way," he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Rose said suddenly. Aleron paused and turned around. "Why don't . . . why don't you stay for a little bit?" she asked.

Vaisey was so surprised by the question that for a moment he just stood there. He couldn't have possibly heard her correctly. She wanted him to stay? One look into her eyes, however, told the truth. The poor girl was so desperate for a companion that she was willing to accept a Slytherin.

Once again, he could not help but take pity on the girl. It was pathetic, really. Not a single person had shown up. He hesitated. And for years to come, he would not understand why he did what he did next, but it felt right.

The Slytherin boy nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay, another update!<strong>

**Coming up: Annabeth strikes a bargain with Theodore Nott, and the aftermath of Rose's birthday party has some shocking results.**

**Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**max artemis potter: Well, it depends on what exactly you mean by "find out". They know she exists- -or at least Ron does, but as I have said already countless times before, their part in this story will be minimal. And well I do plan to have at least one more scene with Ron in it, they will not be finding out about Annabeth's demigodessness (is that a word?)**

**Cookie05: Thank you :)**

**darklilyofthevalley: I'm glad you think so. In this chapter, more of Theodore's past is revealed.**

* * *

><p>Annabeth did not trust Nott. He was far too knowing, and awfully observant. But it was more than that; it seemed that every time she so much as looked at him, chills ran down her spine. There was definitely something very wrong with that boy.<p>

With her recently obtained Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder is one hand (courtesy of the twins,) and her wand gripped tightly in the other, Annabeth slowly made her way down the seventh floor corridor. She had a plan it something were to go wrong - - several, in fact. But no matter how many times she went over her emergency escapes, Annabeth still could not help but feel that something was off. Taking a deep breath and concentrating with all of her might, Annabeth paced back and fourth in front of the unseen door three times.

The entrance to the magical room appeared, and Annabeth stepped inside with baited breath. She gripped her wand so tightly that her knuckles began to turn white, but she hardly noticed.

"Hello?" she called, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. "Nott, are you there?"

The room looked the same as ever. Dog toys lying around, a grassy area in the corner, and a nice, large bed for the terrier. Annabeth supposed the room had different looks to it, depending on the user's needs, but she liked this setting. It made her feel comfortable. She kicked aside a (now dismantled) teddy bear, and walked forward.

Canis, who had until then been sleeping peacefully in his doggie bed, perked up his ears at the sound of her footsteps. He opened one eye at Annabeth and his tails thumped happily.

"Take a seat, Miss Chase."

Annabeth jumped and turned around. Theodore Nott was in a cosy sitting area in the farthest corner of the room. She hadn't remembered that being there before. The Slytherin boy had been so quiet that she didn't even noticed him.

She sat down in an armchair across from him, never once taking her eyes off of the boy. Oddly, he was not looking at her at all. Nott's eyes were focused on a piece of parchment in his lap. The parchment was laid on top of a book as he wrote.

"What are you writing?" Annabeth asked curiously.

There was a strange look in Nott's eyes. He seemed distant, and maybe even a bit sad. Annabeth was surprised that the boy could show any emotion at all.

He did not answer right away, continuing to write as she hadn't spoken at all. Finally, he put down the quill and said quietly, "My father."

"What about him?" Annabeth had noticed that most Slytherins seemed to be constantly bragging about how important their parents were.

"That's who I'm writing to," he replied. "He likes to . . . keep a tab on things."

"Oh," Annabeth said. She had expected more. Vaisey had said something about the Notts, hadn't he? He had said they were supporters of You-Know-Who. She shuddered. Was she in the room with a future murderer? Or perhaps he was one already.

The two sat in silence for a few more moments as Theodore finished his letter. When he was done, Nott put in down on the side table next to his chair. He looked up at her. "Now, before we begin, you must understand that nobody can know about this. Is that crystal clear?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Good. But just incase . . . " he pulled out something from his pocket. "Here," he said, handing it to her, "sign this."

The daughter of Athena eyed Nott suspiciously. "What is it?" she demanded.

"A contract. It is a magical bind that assures me that you will not tell a soul."

"Or what?" she asked, unable to keep her voice from quivering slightly.

"Let's just say . . . you don't want to find out."

Annabeth couldn't believe it. The boy was blackmailing her! Annabeth hated when someone got the better of her. She should have seen this coming. But it was too late to back out now. She signed her name in Ancient Greek just for the heck of it. "_Now_ will you tell me what the heck this is about?"

He chuckled. "Eager, are we? Very well. What do you know about oracles?"

Annabeth looked at him a bit oddly. Oracles? Had she heard that right? She had expected something bigger. But by the look of anticipation - - almost desperation in his eyes, she had a feeling that it was more than it seemed. "I know they can see the future. Oracles usually give prophecies in a form of a rhyme or riddle to make it more enigmatic sounding, and they usually have double meanings." That made Annabeth think about the prophecy Chiron had told her about last year. She really, really hoped that had a double meaning. "Why do you ask?"

Theodore took a deep breath. "What happens to oracles after the person dies? Do they vanish along with them?"

"No," Annabeth said, "normally they go into a different person. Although, I suppose there are times when they do stay in the body. Like at camp, we have the oracle of Del- -" Annabeth stopped. How could she have been so stupid? She silently cursed her own foolishness.

Nott looked at her curiously. "Camp?" he repeated. "What camp? What oracle? What are you talking about?"

Annabeth waved her hand dismissively. "Never mind that. Who were _you_ referring to?"

When Nott spoke, he wasn't looking at her. He was staring into blank space, and spoke with a distant voice. "My mother died when I was eight. She was always a bit off. Sometimes she would randomly break into fits , and scream strange things. Occasionally she spoke with this strange sort of voice, as if there were three of her. It was like someone was possessing her body. And her eyes. . . they would glow." He shuddered, clearly disturbed by the memory.

Annabeth tried not to look too shocked. She had seen someone of that description before . . . Luke's mother. The encounter had not gone well.

"Dad always said she wasn't quite there, but he never said why. It started getting really bad when I was around five. Mother began having these fits more and more often- - sometimes as much as two, three times a day. Dad would have to lock her up in a closet whenever we had company." His voice cracked and Nott paused, quickly regaining his composure. Then, in his normal voice continued, "And then, one day, my Mum completely lost it. She went mad, running around the house, taring out her hair. And . . . and then she took out a knife and I freaked out. I pulled out Dad's wand and said the only spell I knew. I had heard Dad use when working with Mudbloods. - - I don't believe I was thinking straight at the time . . . " his eyes began to water, and a tissue box appeared out of nowhere. Nott scowled, but took one anyway. The older boy quickly wiped his eyes.

Annabeth was startled. "I'm sorry," she said, unsure of what else to do. She waited a couple seconds, thinking that Theodore would burst into tears, but he didn't.

"Sometime later I looked into that closet," he continued darkly, "she had written on the walls. Some of it was in English, but the rest was in a strange language. I quickly wrote it down on a spare piece of parchment, because I knew that father would get rid of it as soon as if found the writings. He found out not long after I. He, as I predicted tried to jinx the writing off of the wall, but for some unknown reason, he was unable to. But try he did! Father spent weeks attempting to vanish it, but nothing worked. Meanwhile, I continued to study the documents. I knew I had seen the writing somewhere before, but I couldn't recall exactly where."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Stop the drama and just cut to the chase."

He glared at her, but complied to her wish. "On my tenth birthday, the Malfoys and my family went to Athens. - - That's in Greece," he added, for clarification.

"I know where it is!"

"Anyway, we were visiting one of the ancient temples, and that was when I saw it! I recognized some of the writing on it. It matched the writing on the wall. I tried to see if any of the words were identical - -I always kept the parchment with me. But I was soon dragged away, because apparently Draco got bored and was whining. So I dived into as many books as I could get my hands on, trying to decode the message." He shrugged. "I'm not quite sure what I found so compelling about the object - -I always like a good challenge. I began taking Ancient Runes in my third year, and last year I had finally began to complete the message. See for yourself." He pulled out a very old piece of parchment. It was full of scribbles and cross-outs.

Annabeth studied the content. It was then she realized just how deep a hole she had dug herself into.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: I noticed how when I started putting the Harry Potter factsrandom facts that people stopped commenting on the story itself and just focused on those. I'm glad that everybody likes the little facts, but if you are going to review, could you say what you think about the story also? **

**Because I did not do one last chapter, I am doing two Potter facts and two miscellaneous facts:**

**HP fact: The actors of Harry Potter often snuck some of the prop food on set. During the thrid film, the producers told the child actors that the sweets in Honeydukes were laquer-coated so that they wouldn't sneak it during their breaks. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) actually had to have the pockets to his robes sown shut because he kept taking food in between scenes.**

**HP fact 2: James Sirius Potter, Harry's oldest son, stole the Marauder's Map from his father's desk.**

**Random fact: The Wire-Coated Fox Terrier is a dog breed that was owned by both Einstein and Darwin.**

**Random fact 2: In order to be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (a type of high-functioning autism) one needs to have AT LEAST average intelligence.**

**Wow. I have way too much free time. . . anyway, REVIEW! **


	24. Chapter 24

**max artemis potter: Thanks**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: Thank you so much! I've been writing on this site since I was ten or eleven, so I've had a lot of practice. Now I'm thirteen and a much better writer. I am so glad you like it!**

**Unnamed-Anonymous-Reviewer: Hi. An interesting question, I was looking to see if anyone would pick up on that. I have been dropping hints. Vaisey does, as a matter of fact, like Annabeth in a slightly more than a friend way. But like I said, the hints are subtle, and they're still both very young. I don't even think Vasiey realizes that he likes her. **

**Cookie05: Thank you**

**kitty123383: Yeah, I'm just evil that way. MUAHAHA! **

**malfoyforever: Thanks! Yeah, I like him too. He's funny. I also like the Annabeth/Luke pre-Kronos thing. **

**darklilyofthevalley: Yep.**

**book worm: Here you go!**

**Note: Again, I would just like to say that although I know people enjoy the little facts, it would be great if you also reviewed the STORY. Anyway, enjoy the chapter**.

* * *

><p>Annabeth was sure that when she entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day she would come face to face with a not-so-happy Aleron Vaisey. She could not have been more wrong. Not only did Vaisey not look angry, he was smiling - - no, not just smiling; he was BEAMING. Now Annabeth was starting to worry. A Slytherin boy beaming could never mean anything good.<p>

With caution, she approached the Slytherin table. "Hey . . . um, about last night . . . " she began somewhat awkwardly.

Vaisey waved his hand dismissively. "Eh, don't worry about it."

"Are you feeling alright?" Annabeth asked nervously.

Once again, and to Annabeth's complete horror, Aleron grinned widely. "Never better. I actually had fun. Rose isn't half bad once you get to know her. Did you know that her cousin plays in the Holyhead Harpies? She even got third row seats for the Quidditch World Cup last year! How cool is that!"

Annabeth nodded stiffly. "Very cool," she replied, her mind once again wandering to the previous night's shocking events.

Vaisey seeming to notice her distant look, waved his hand in front of her face. "Hello, Annabeth? Helloooo-oo!"

"What?" she said, stepping out of her semi-trance. "Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"Excellent. Oh, what did Nott want?"

"Err . . . nothing worth worrying about. He just wanted my help in researching something."

Aleron looked surprised. "Really? That doesn't sound like him at all. Why would he bother going through all of that trouble just to get help with some research. I mean, the bloody boy is always ready! You'd think that he wouldn't mind doing it on his own. Kind of odd, no?"

Annabeth shrugged. "It was a very particular type of research." Then she left without another word.

* * *

><p>"No! This is stupid! I can't believe you made me do it. I'm not going."<p>

"Come on, Marietta, how often do I ask a favor of you? Besides, you know I can't go there alone. Otherwise I might as well throw my arms around the bloody bloke and snog him like there's no tomorrow."

"No, no, and no. My answer had not changed, nor will it. What they're doing is stupid and risky. I say we should just tell Umbridge and get it done with already. We should put a stop to this nonsense before it gets out of hand. That should keep the lot out of trouble!"

"Marietta, no!" the Chinese-British girl begged. "This is really important to me. It's also the right thing to do. He would have wanted us to. Don't you think - -"

"Okay, stop it," Marietta put her hand up, "alright, I know where you're going with this, Cho. You are not going to guilt me into going to that meeting. I don't want to learn defense. I don't! I'm scared, okay? Scared of what the Ministry will do to my family. If you want to kill yourself, go on ahead! But I'm not! These are dangerous times, Cho, and I would prefer to stay on the safe side."

"Exactly! And how is staying with Harry not safe? He knew what he was doing. He's even faced You-Know-Who in a duel and lived! He will protect us!"

"Sure, just like he did a wonderful job of protecting Cedric!" at her friend's forlorn expression, she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I said that, but I'm still not going. It's too dangerous. You can go and risk you neck if you want, but I'm staying here. I refuse to join Potter's little dueling club. Besides, we both know why you're _really_ going."

Harper smirked from his hiding spot as he listened to the girls' conversation via Extendable Ears. Those Weasley Twins may have been annoying, but their products were brilliant, none the less. So Harry Potter was forming some sort of resistance against the Ministry. He would have to tell Vaisey about this! The two of them could threaten to tell and - -oh, wow, they would have Potter at their command. It would be sweet!

Forrest paused. _Wait, why bother telling Vaisey?_ he wondered, _what has he ever done for me? Why should I have to share my power with him? Plus, he'd probably bring that stupid Ravenclaw girl with him if he did. _Harper paused mentally_. Huh, _he mused_. A stupid Ravenclaw. How ironic. _He supposed that perhaps "stupid" wasn't the right word to use in this context. _Annoying would probably be better. Or irritating. Or agitating. Or provoking. Pestering. Displeasing. Plaguing. Badgering._ _Maybe Mum was right,_ thought Harper. _Maybe I _should_ be in Ravenclaw. I bet I could think of fifty synonyms on the spot if I tried. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Alright . . . let's see . . . Perturbing. Nagging. Bothersome. Peeving_ _- - oh, THAT'S where Peeves got his name!_ - - Wait a minute! What was he doing, pondering over stupid words? If only mother hadn't insisted on reading _Madame MacHale's Junior Thesaurus of Negative Words_. Now that's something only a Slytherin would write. An entire book full of negative words.

Forrest Harper pressed his ear to the artificial one and continued to listen to the girl's argument for several more minutes. Eventually, Edgecombe gave in and agreed to go to one meeting of . . . whatever it was.

_Hang on,_ he realized, _Chang and Edgecombe are in Ravenclaw._ Maybe it would be a good idea to tell Vaisey and Chase, after all. She could be their insider. Madame MacHale's number one rule always was: "Get others to do the work for you".

His mother had also made him read her complete guide to the fine art of manipulation.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong, Annabeth?" asked Orla. The twelve-year-old Ravenclaw had watched her roommate throughout the entire holloween feast. Annabeth had not touched her food, merely picking at it with a troubled expression on her face.<p>

Annabeth shrugged. "Just a bit worried about that Astronomy test, that's all," the girl replied, still hunched over the parchment she was looking at.

Emma Dobbs looked up from her copy of _Witches Weekly_. "I thought that Gryffindor boy was tutor- - err. . . helping you out," for some reason the girls seemed to think that being tutored was the same as calling someone stupid. Typical Ravenclaws. "You know, the Irish one. Seamus Finngin."

"Oh yeah!" Orla pipped in excitedly, "he's cute!"

Annabeth dropped her quill. "Okay," she said, "first of all, he's not cute. And secondly, it's _Finnigan_."

"I imagine he has plenty of tests of his own to study for as well," Emma said thoughtfully, flipping through the pages of her magazine. "He is, after all, in his fifth year. Seamus probably needs to practice for his upcoming OWLs."

"I don't think so, OWLs aren't for a while. Seamus never struck me as the 'studying ahead of time' type."

Dobbs shrugged. "It's _possible_. Right, Annabeth?" there was no answer. "Annabeth?"

Annabeth stared at the parchment in front of her as if it were the winning ticket to the lottery. She took out a notebook and began to scribble furiously. There was a picture on it as well as words, and Annabeth had a feeling that she recognized it from somewhere. Then, as if someone had turned on a lightbulb, she shouted, "Δωδώνη!"

Her roommates stared at her. "_What_?" they said simultaneously.

"Nothing," she muttered in English. _Note to self,_ Annabeth said mentally, _no shouting out things in Ancient Greek._ Despite her embarrassingly foolish outburst of Attic Greek, Annabeth couldn't help but feel proud of herself. She had been trying to figure out why there was a picture of an stadium on the parchment. Now she understood at last: it was Dodona Theater. And who was that theater named after? The Oracle of Dodona! It made sense now. If Delphi could use a human as a host, why couldn't Dodona?

Annabeth searched her mind, trying to recall everything that she had learned from Camp Half-Blood's history lessons about Dodona. _Dodona was one of the oldest oracles, probably second to Delphi. Dodona had been the oracle of Dione, Delphin had been held by Phoebe, and then passed on to Apollo. What were the others?_ Annabeth struggled to remember. _Phthiotis was with Themis? No, Theia. And Lebadeia was held by Mnemosyne. Yeah, that's it. _

Oracles aside, Annabeth turned her focus to the actual prophecies. There were several on the page, some were just bits and pieces, but there were a couple full ones. Two in particular caught Annabeth's attention.

The first seemed rather vague and unclear - - even more than normal prophecies.

_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call._

_To storm or fire, the world must fall._

_An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. _

Whatever that one meant, it couldn't be good. Disturbed, she turned her attention the other. If anything, this one troubled her even more. Perhaps that was because she had heard it before. Not long ago, last year, in fact. She still remembered the way Chiron's eyes seemed to bore through her skull. The poem had haunted her ever since.

_A Half-Blood of the eldest gods_,

_Shall reach sixteen against all odds_

_And see the world in endless sleep_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to preserve or raze_

Annabeth noticed that her hand were now shaking, unable to keep the parchment steady. She placed it in her lap, just in time to see it: in a corner of parchment where nothing appeared to be written, a new prophecy materialized right before her eyes! It seemed to be addressed directly to her, and she did not like the look of it.

_You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,_

_The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise._

_You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,_

_The Child of Athena's final stand._

_Destroy with a hero's final breath,_

_And lose a love to worse than death. _

* * *

><p><strong>Sound familiar? Who says a prophecy can't happen twice?<strong>

**Random HP fact: Although we all love to believe it, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood never got together. After Deathly Hallows, Neville married Hannah Abbott. The two now live in the Leaky Cauldron where Hannah is the landlady. During the school year Neville teaches Herbology at Hogwarts.**

**Luna, on the other hand, traveled the world as a wizarding naturalist. She discovered many new species, although was never able to find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Eventually, she found true love of her own: Rolf Scamander, grandson of Newt Scamander (the author of_ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). _The couple had a pair of twin boys, Lorcan and Lysander. **

**Random fact: Sneezing too hard can cause someone to break a rib (although quite unlikely), and someone who suppresses a sneeze can pop a vain in their head or neck and die. I know; lovely, right?**


	25. Chapter 25

**To everyone in the States: I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. And to everybody else, I hope that you had a great weekend.**

**A special thanks to my reviewers:**

**ShadowOfMyLight: Yeah, sometimes I end up doing that too. Which is the reason why I am up at eleven every other night. I'm glad you liked it.**

**Unnamed-Anonymous-Reviewer: Yep.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: Sorry about that, but trust me, it's very unlikely. I'm glad you liked my prophecy idea.**

**Cookie05: Same here. I actually sneezed while writing that fact. lol**

**Miz636: Thank you so much. This was my second attempt at this particular crossover. My first one I had begun when I was eleven, and looking back, I realized that I had made some mistakes in both story lines. This time, I was determined to screw it up. I even went as far as to memorize the Hogwarts schedules for the first and second years!**

**Percabeth will rule the world: Thank you.**

**malfoyforever: Yep, I did some research on Greek oracles. Also, thanks for correcting my Cho Chang mistake, I went back and fixed it. **

**killerpizza504: Thanks.**

**Note: When I said that a prophecy could be used twice, I was referring to only the last one. **

* * *

><p>On the second of November, Educational Decree number 25 was put up. It spoke of some Industrial Squad that would help keep students in line. Whoever joined would receive extra credit.<p>

"I'll bet you anything that Malfoy is going to be one of them," Harper said to Vaisey.

The other boy nodded, "that goes without saying. And I bet his goons will follow him too. And probably Parkinson. She follows him around like a lost puppy."

As it turned out, they were right. Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, and Parkinson were the first to sign up. Several others joined for reasons of their own. Millicent Bulstrode signed up because she thought it would make her more popular. Adrian Pucey put his name on the list so that he would have authority over others. Blaise Zabini joined because he thought it would impress people (particularly if those people happened to be female and single.)

One person who did not join, however, was Theodore Nott. Malfoy tried numerous times, but without any success, to get him to join the squad, but the other boy remained stubborn as ever.

"I have better things to do that to go around bullying people from other Houses just to raise my self esteem."

Malfoy seemed shocked that Nott would even suggest such a thing, but it did shut him up.

* * *

><p>"Watch, you'll love this!" cried Vaisey gleefully. The Slytherin boy then proceeded to fly across the field in a complex zig-zag pattern, leaving his Hufflepuff companion gaping at him in awe. Aleron smiled proudly. "Cool, huh? That's called a Woollongong Shimmy," he explained, "it's when the Chasers of one team fly in a zig-zag pattern to confuse the other team. It looks way better with more people, though."<p>

"That's . . . that's amazing," Rose said, "I've never seen anything like it! You're a really good flier."

Vaisey grinned from ear to ear, giving him a slightly comical appearance. "It's nothing," he said, "now, if you want to see something cool, watch this." Vaisey sped around the field in a triple loop. It happened so fast that Rose hardly had any time to see it. When he was done, Rose whistled and applauded her friend. "That was brilliant! You have got to teach me how to do that!"

Standing up on his broom, Aleron gave a slight bow. Rose giggled. "Okay, now you're just showing off!"

"Okay, play time is over, ickle firsties!" said a voice. Vaisey and Zeller turned around to face one of Gryffindor's Beaters, Fred Weasley.

Noticing that one of the "ickle firsties" was a Slytherin, the team captain, Angelina Johnson, frowned. "And you," she said, pointing an accusing finger at Aleron. "You better not try to spy on us. Because, I swear, the next time I spot one of you slimy snakes on our field during practice, there will be trouble. Understood?"

Rose stepped forward, frowning. "There's no call to be rude! We were here first, after all." she said, hands on her hips.

For a moment, everybody, including Rose herself, froze. She could not believe that she had just said that. It was unlike her to be so blunt.

Then, abruptly, Angelina, along with the rest of the team laughed. It was a cruel, mocking laugh.

"Wow," said Harry Potter, "a Hufflepuff standing up for a Slytherin? Now, there's a first!" he laughed some more, then grew a bit tense. "But, seriously, kid, we need to practice, so why don't you just scoot along . . . "

Rose, not wanting to cause any more trouble, was more than willing to comply to the older boy's request. But Vaisey couldn't stop himself from saying one last comment. "Just how many Weasleys do you have on this team?" he asked, looking over at Fred, George, and Ron. "Wow. That is just sad, you guys must be desperate! Normally I'd insult you at this point, but this is just too easy. It wouldn't be fair." He turned to go, but not before he could hear Ron shout.

"Yeah? We'll see who's laughing when we kick your arses at tomorrow's game!"

* * *

><p>When Vaisey entered the Common Room that night, he saw his fellow Housemates giggling like a bunch of little girls.<p>

" . . . What's going on?" he asked, bewildered.

Adrian Pucey grinned. "We have a little surprise planned for the game tomorrow. Take a look at this," he handed the first-year a sheet of paper. Vaisey accepted it and read the words. Confused at first, it took him several seconds to get the message; once he did, the boy's face broke into a wide grin.

"This will be one interesting game."

* * *

><p>The first Quidditch match of the season occurred in early November. It was Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Annabeth noticed that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws seemed to be cheering on the Gryffindors as well. She was probably the only one in her house wearing green that day. Zeller was still not sure if she regretted the decision or not.<p>

Rose glanced over at the Ravenclaw stands to see that Annabeth, too, was wearing the Slytherin colours. But she did not appear too interested in the game. Her eyes were focused on a small piece of parchment. She had a look of concentration on her face that seemed far too adult-like for an eleven-year-old. Annabeth had been having that face on more and more often the past few days.

Looking over at the Slytherin stands, almost everybody appeared to be at the edge of their seats, grinning in anticipation. That look on a Slytherin could never mean anything good. As it turned out, she was right.

A couple minutes into the game, Daphne Greengrass nudged Blaise Zabini. That was their cue. Suddenly, as if it was rehearsed, and chances are it was, the Slytherins burst into song.

_"Weasley cannot save a thing, _

_He cannot block a single ring,_

_That's why Slytherins all sing:_

_Weasley is our King."_

In the Hufflepuff stands, Kevin Whitby, worried that things would get out of hand, tugged at Professor Sprout's robes. "Professor, do something!" he demanded.

The teacher shrugged helplessly, "there's nothing I can do," she said, "they aren't breaking the rules."

_"Weasley was born in a bin_

_He always lets the Quaffle in_

_That's why Slytherins all sing:_

_Weasley is our King."_

The tips of Weasley's ears turned pink in embarrassment.

_"Weasley is our King,_

_Weasley is our King,_

_Weasley will make sure we win _

_Weasley is our King."_

The Gryffindors were furious. The Slytherin's plan seemed to backfire. If anything, all the song had built up their determination to beat them. Johnson, the team captain, barked orders at her teammates. They played well and very much in sync, almost as if it were an art.

The Slytherins all groaned when Potter caught the snitch. Well, all of them except for Nott, who was too caught up in his book to so much as look up for a minute. Harper pounded his fists on the seat in front of him. "No fair!" he cried, "I demanded a rematch!"

The Slytherin team did not seem too happy about their defeat either. Bletchley and Warrington glared at Malfoy. Draco, trying his best not to look embarrassed, walked over to the Gryffindors with his best smirk on his face. He began to taunt Weasley, insulting his Quidditch skills as well as his family and wealth. Annabeth was frankly disgusted. If he was going to insult him, he should have at least done a good job of it. She made a mental note to confront Vaisey about it later. It was mortifying to think that her friend would participate in such childish affairs.

The squabble ended in an all-out fight, with Umbridge intervening. The toad-lady went easy on the Slytherins (big surprise), but punished the Gryffindors so badly that the Weasley twins looked close to tears. Annabeth did not hear what the exact penalty was, but it must have been pretty bad because even some of the Slytherins were crying in outrage.

Annabeth silently thanked the gods that she was in Ravenclaw.

* * *

><p>"You want me to say <em>what<em>?" Vaisey cried, nearly chocking on his tea. The two were inside of the room of requirement, visiting Canis. It was a couple of days later and Annabeth had finally gotten her friend alone.

A napkin appeared out of midair, and Vaisey wiped the tea off of the carpet.

Annabeth said, "Seriously, what is it with you British people and tea?"

Aleron gave her an incredulous look. "What do you mean?" he took a sip. "It's not just us, tea is a wide-spread drink. Everybody drinks it. I mean, come on, don't tell me that you never drink tea in the States."

"Only if I dump an entire bottle of honey in it first," she replied.

Her Slytherin companion looked at her in disgust. "But that defeats the whole - - never mind. I'm still not going to do it. There is not a force on this earth that will make me sink to the level of that scum!"

"But - -"

"NO! I am not apologizing to the Weasel for singing that song. He had it coming to him. And, even you have to admit, it was kind of catchy."

"Hmm . . ." said Annabeth thoughtfully, "I seem to remember last time I asked you to speak to somebody that you considered below you, the two of you became best friends."

His cheeks turned red. "Rose is different. - - Hey, Canis, stop it!" the little dog had begun to chew up the napkin. He ripped it out of the dog's mouth.

Annabeth looked at the dog. "You know," she said, "you can't keep him here forever."

"And why not?"

"Well, eventually, you're going to have to bring him home. If not for Christmas, then most certainly for summer. What I'm saying is, you need to train him so that he can pass the test. Then you won't have the Ministry on your back, and you get to keep the dog. It's a win-win situation. Besides, all you have to do is teach him to behave around muggles. That should be easy enough."

Vaisey wanted to argue, but he had to admit it made sense. "Fine," he mumbled.

Annabeth's watch beeped. "I have to go meet Seamus in the library." She stood up to leave and then turned around at the last second. "Oh, and when I get back from Thanksgiving vacation, you are going to be apologizing to Ron and I will see it happen."

Vaisey groaned.

* * *

><p><strong>That's right, kids! Annabeth's going back to Camp Half-Blood for Thanksgiving. This should be interesting.<strong>

**HP fact: The awkward hug between Voldemort and Draco Malfoy is Deathly Hallows part 2 was not in the script. **

**Random fact: A baby platypus is called a puggle.**

**BONUS PJO fact: The character Percy Jackson is based off of Haley, Rick Riordan's son who has ADHD and Dyslexia.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Cookie05: I know, it's super weird.**

**ButterflyFlyToMe: Yes it is (they also celebrate it in Canada, but they do so on a different date.) Annabeth is the only one that goes home. I had a feeling that this sort of thing was discussed with Dumbledore before the term.**

**killerpizza504: Thank you.**

**malfoyforever: I'm glad you liked the little Blaise Zabini part. He always struck me as a flirt. As for your other point, when I look back at the books it seems that for the most part everyone (House-wise) is against the Slytherins. But when you look at it, many of them aren't that bad, like Snape and Andromeda. Even Malfoy proved that he couldn't kill in the later books. Vaisey comments on Dumbledore's favorism in an earlier chapter ("Us Slytherins had technically won the House cup, but _no_, Dumbledore's favorite boy earned the House an extra hundred and seventy points, even after the final tally was counted.") **

**darklilyofthevalley: Very true. **

**Random Person with No Name: Thanks. As for your other question, I get them from several websites and books. There is no one place in particular. If I see something that I find interesting, I will often write it down. **

**SouperInsaneNinja: Glad you like it. As for the platypus fact, I believe I found it on somewhere. There was a list of animals and what their young are called. And since I love animals and have far too much free time, I figured: eh, why not? (Baby echidnas - - the only mammal other than the platypus that lays eggs- - are also called puggles. Likewise, a puggle is a type of dog, a mix between a pug and a beagle.)**

* * *

><p>"There she is!" Luke cried. The blond boy smiled so widely that Annabeth was sure that his face would crack. She ran right up to him, embracing her older friend in a big bear hug. "It's good to see you! Camp's been so boring with you gone. Now things are sure to get interesting again!"<p>

Annabeth wasn't sure whether to take this as a compliment or an insult, but in the end she decided that it really didn't matter.

"So," said Luke, once the hug-fest was over, "how's England?"

"It's good. Really good. I'm learning so much and I've made some really good friends."

Luke grinned slyly. "I bet you kicked all of their asses, huh?"

Annabeth shrugged, blushing slightly. A small giggle escaped from her throat, but it went unnoticed.

A random girl whom Annabeth did not recognize ran up to them, cutting their reunion short. The girl had long, curly dark hair and Asian features. She looked around Annabeth's age. The girl bounced up and down excitedly. "Oh. My. Gods! You were in England? That is _sooooo_ cool! You are _sooooo_ lucky!"

Annabeth frowned. "Who are you?"

Luke smiled at the girl, although it looked somewhat forced. "Oh right. You haven't met the camp's newest arrival. This is Drew, daughter of Aphrodite. Drew, this is Annabeth."

Annabeth extended her hand somewhat reluctantly.

The girl did not take it. Annabeth had a feeling that she didn't even notice it. Instead she just kept on talking. "I already know who you are. Luke told me all about you. Gods, he wouldn't stop talking! You're the daughter of Athena. You've been here since you were seven and came at the same time as he did. There was another girl with you, too. The dead one. Thalia, right?" Annabeth flinched at the name of her (thought to be) deceased friend. And although she doubted that the girl had meant to be insulting, she immediately withdrew her hand.

"So," said Drew, continuing to chatter, not noticing the death glares she was getting from Luke and Annabeth. "Did they have cute accents?"

* * *

><p><em>Leprechaun gold. What would I do without it?<em> Harper wondered. Ha, those Weasleys weren't the only ones who could play tricks. The money looked genuine enough, but within a few days it would vanish. It was an old trick he had learned from his brother.

Earlier that day, Harper had been spying on Potter, when his pair of extendable ears broke. But when he went back to the Weasleys to buy a new pair, the price had nearly tripled! If they thought that he would pay them that much, they were kidding themselves. Their products had now become more or less of a black market now, with Umbridge lurking around every corner and all, but that was still no excuse!

Forrest held one ear to his own, while swinging the other other around by its cord, trying to pick up on any interesting conversations.

" . . . anything?"

Harper recognized that voice. Hell, he would recognize that whiny tone anywhere. It was Rose Zeller, the little Hufflepuff wuss that Vaisey had somehow befriended. Harper snorted. Sometimes he just didn't know about that boy. Befriending muggle-lovers. It frankly disgusted him. Annabeth was alright, rather annoying, but still respectable. But Rose . . . Harper couldn't understand why anybody would voluntarily spend any time with that girl.

"I'm sure he'll answer soon," came another voice. It was vaguely familiar, but Harper could not quite recall where he had heard it before.

"It's no use!" Rose cried. "I've been trying and trying, but he just won't listen! I . . . I think he hates me. Who wouldn't? I know that _I_ certainly would," there were a couple of pathetic muffled sniffling sounds.

"Maybe the post is just late."

Rose stopped crying. "'Maybe the post is just late'," she imitated the other boy, "really, Anthony, _really_? Come on, you could at least come up with a halfway decent excuse! Some help _you_ are!"

Anthony! That's who the other kid was: Anthony Goldstein, the Ravenclaw prefect. What was he doing with Rose? Prefects normally did not waste their time with mere first-years - - or at least, that's what the Slytherin prefects did. He should have guessed that everyone else would be softies.

Anthony, his pride clearly hurt, said, "I was just trying to make you feeling better. There's no call to be rude."

"But he hasn't written at all! I send him an owl everyday, and he still won't respond. I didn't realize I'd hurt him so badly. Can I stay at your place for the holidays?"

"You won't need to," the older boy said, once again calm. "He'll write back. I promise."

Harper listened as the two walked off until their footsteps died completely. _What was that all about?_ It seemed that Rose had done something that upset her father enough to ignore her. Maybe see wasn't such a goody-good-good after all.

* * *

><p>Thirteen-year-old Argento Vaisey watched at his brother with a look of extreme discomfort. He was still with that girl. Why was he with her? Agrento had first seen Aleron with the Hufflepuff the previous week, and the time they spent together seemed to becoming more and more frequent. They only time he had gotten ahold of his brother long enough to ask what they were doing, Aleron had mumbled something about a homework assignment and shrugged him off. Argento was sick of it. He was going to confront his brother and the girl today.<p>

He made his way over to them on his way to lunch. While doing so, Vaisey accidently collided with Forrest Harper, the youngest Harper child. The little boy got up and dusted himself off, mumbling something under his breath.

Vaisey muttered a half-hearted apology, his eyes not once leaving the direction of his brother. Forrest followed his gaze and smirked.

"Repulsive, isn't it?" the young boy said, sneering at the couple. The Hufflepuff was laughing at something Aleron had said. Argento thought he might vomit.

"I happen to be making my way over to them as well," he continued, getting Argento's attention.

"Why?"

"I overheard her talking to a prefect the other night. She's hiding something. I don't trust her. You go ahead, I see that I'm covered."

He made his way over. "Aleron, who's that you're with?" he asked.

The younger Vaisey boy made a face. "Come on, Rose, let's go," he said, tugging at her shirt collar.

Argento laughed. "Rose, is it? We're using first names now, huh?"

"Leave her alone," he said through gritted teeth.

"So tell me Rose," Argento continued, completely ignoring his brother, "what's your surname?" Rose looked down at the ground and mumbled something inaudible, causing the older boy to frown. "What?"

"Zeller."

"Hmm. . . can't say I've heard of them. So tell me 'Zeller', where are you from? What does your father do?"

Rose bit her lip and had a slightly panicked look in her eye, but quickly collected herself. "Manchester," the eleven-year-old replied in the most confident tone she could manage. "My father's a rabbi."

"A what?" the time it was Aleron who spoke.

Rose blushed. She looked like she would rather be anywhere but there at the moment. "A r-rabbi," she repeated. "A type of muggle spiritual leader. I'm a half-blood," she added quickly.

"Oh." Argento looked rather disappointed with the lack of exciting material. "Well, anyways, choose your friends wisely, Aleron. I think I'll spit in Astoria Greengrass's food now. Bye."

"Sorry 'bout him," said Aleron, "he's been rather bitter since . . ." he felt a lump in his throat and was unable to finish the sentence. "Well, you know."

"Yeah," she squeezed his hand, "I do."

* * *

><p><strong>HP fact: "Tom Marvolo Riddle" is also an anagram for "immortal odd lover".<strong>

**Random fact: The wingspan of a 747 airplane is longer than the Wright brothers' first (successful) flight!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello! Happy Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, er . . . Winter Solstice! Here is my present to you: an update before I go on vacation. **

**darklilyofthevalley: That's what I thought, too. I'm glad you liked the chapter.**

**killerpizza504: Wow, I'm honored (that's now sarcasm, I really am). Anyway, I'm Jewish (hmm . . . a Jew writing about witchcraft and Greek gods, talk about irony), so I don't celebrate Christmas. But, I wish you a happy holiday!**

**PjoHp. Spellandwords (note: I had to put spaces in your name otherwise fanfiction deleted it): Yeah, unfortunately Percy will not play such a big part in this story. He may or may not make a brief appearance at the end, though.**

**Meagan Snow: I'm glad you think so! As for school, eighth grade itself probably wouldn't be so hard if I didn't spend half the day in a different language. I'm also mostly in the high classes, which is really annoying. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!**

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><p>Camp Half-Blood had two television sets. Most of the time Chiron, Mr. D., and a couple of the older campers used them to watch the news. Every day, if the campers behaved, they were allowed to watch one hour of television. Both TVs were kept in locked rooms in the Big House so that the children wouldn't sneak in (although Conner and Travis had attempted to do so numerous times.) On weekends and special occasions, everyone in the camp would gather around to watch a movie. Of course, satellite television was out of the question, and even cable was an iffy subject. Still, they had not experienced any monster-related issues with the TV signals, so the tradition continued. After all, depriving a child of television in modern-day America, was considered (by most) to be a cruel and unusual punishment.<p>

Annabeth, unlike most of the campers, often would miss the TV hour. She preferred to spend her time doing something more useful than stare at a screen for sixty minutes. Still, on occasion if they were watching something worthwhile she would join them. And after being deprived of any muggle technology for months, she found herself staring at the box for hours.

Drew continued to annoy Annabeth, she would constantly pester her with personal questions that were none of her business, and on more than one occasion, Annabeth was seriously considering using her knife on the girl.

Ethan's mother was claimed as well, although he still stayed in the Hermes cabin, so Annabeth guessed she was a minor goddess, although Ethan refused to tell her himself. The poor kid had been waiting to be claimed for months, and now he didn't even have a cabin. Annabeth felt a little bad for him, but she had enough troubles of her own to deal with for the time being.

She read ahead in her Defense Against the Dark Arts book. Umbridge, no doubt, would quiz her on its contents once she returned. She also wrote up a list of everything that she could recall about obedience training from Rex, hoping that it could help with Canis. And, of course, there were the prophecies to worry about. It disturbed her to think that the last one seemed aimed directly for her.

Even with her burden of work, Annabeth still found time to interact with her demigod friends, who were all eager to hear about her stay. Annabeth did her best to answer their questions as honestly as she could without giving away the fact that it was a magic school, but at times she was forced to say an outright lie. It felt weird lying to her friends, especially Luke. The two always had a special connected and Annabeth couldn't help but feel as if she had betrayed him.

Come to think of it, Luke hadn't quite been himself either lately. Could it be that he was hiding something as well?

* * *

><p>"Ackerley, Ambercrombie, Baddock, Chase," there was no response. "Where's Chase?" Umbridge demanded. "You there," she said to Stewart, pointing one of her stubby fingers at the second-year accusingly, "you sit next to her, where is she?"<p>

"I d-don't know," he whimpered.

Orla Quirkie raised her hand. "Professor," she said, "I heard that she was in the States for a week for some American holiday."

"Yeah, Thanksgiving," Vaisey said, recalling the name that Annabeth had used.

Umbridge narrowed her eyes in anger. "And what gave her the idea that she could leave the country whenever she wanted to?"

"The headmaster gave her permission, you dodo," Rose mumbled. The little Hufflepuff had been growing more and more bold ever since she started hanging around the Slytherin.

"Who said that?" she interrogated the class. Her beady little eyes scanning the group of students. Rose did her best to shrink into her seat. "You there!" she shouted. Rose whimpered, before realizing that the professor was talking to Harper. "You're always playing tricks."

"I didn't do it, I swear! I don't even know what a dodo is!"

"It's what muggles call a Diricawl," Emma explained.

Umbridge slammed her fist onto her desk. "Dobbs, DETENTION!"

* * *

><p>Luke Castellan finally worked up the courage to approach Annabeth the night before she left. It had been difficult to get her alone, and on the occasion that he did, she was almost always doing homework for school. How much work did that place give anyway?<p>

He found Annabeth in the Big House where she was attempting to write an essay while simultaneously watching _The Simpsons_. He felt a bit guilty for bothering her, but he knew that she left first thing tomorrow morning; if he didn't tell her now, he might never get the chance.

He cleared his throat.

Annabeth looked up from her work. "Oh. Hey, Luke."

"Hi. Um. . . I was just wondering something. . ."

"What?"

"Well. . . have you ever wanted to avenge Thalia's . . . have you ever wanted to avenge Thalia?"

THAT got her attention. "Of course I would, stupid! You know the answer to that!" but Annabeth was no dummy herself. She knew that Luke wouldn't just throw things out like that. He had something planned. "Why?"

"What if I were to tell you that I know how to get the perfect revenge."

Annabeth's eyes widened, but Luke couldn't tell if it was in horror or excitement. Then, slowly but surely, Annabeth's lips formed a smile. "As long as it's not something stupid like bringing Kronos back to life!" she joked, not noticing her companion's face fall. "So, what did you have in mind?"

"Nothing," he murmured, sighing. "Nothing. It was all hypothetic."

* * *

><p>Harper had finally pieced together what was going on: Potter and some of his friends were creating some sort of defense class of their own. Finding out<em> where<em> the meetings took place was the hard part, but after a lot of snooping he discovered a room that seemed to appear whenever someone in the group came to it. How convenient.

Grinning in anticipation, Harper confronted Vaisey in the Slytherin Common Room the night before Chase's return.

"Hey, Aleron?" he said, "have you ever heard of the Room of Requirement?"

Aleron froze, his eyes were filled with panic. "Who told you?" he whispered.

"Erm . . . well, Nott said something about it - -"

At that point, his friend's "cool" demeanor completely vanished. In panic, he started blabbering. "Nott? I KNEW we shouldn't have trusted him!" Vaisey smacked his fist into his hand. "That slimy snake - - well, I suppose I shouldn't be saying that, because I'm a Slytherin, too. But still! Oh god, you won't tell anyone will you? Swear that you won't!"

"Vaisey, I - -"

"SWEAR TO IT!"

"Okay, okay," the other boy said, holding his hands up in defeat. "I swear. What exactly am I swearing to?"

"What - - you mean you don't - - but then how . . . ? - -UGGHH! I'm so stupid!"

"It's about time you've noticed," muttered Forrest, smirking. "Anyway, I don't know what you're on about, but I know what Potter's up to."

Vaisey face lit up. "Forget what I said. Wait, Potter, _really_? Is this about the thing we saw in Hogs-"

"Yep. Unlike you, I've kept to my word. I've been watching them for months. Potter created some secret organization with his friends. I think it's some sort of Defense Against the Dark Arts class - -you know, a real one, unlike the crap Umbridge is showing us."

His companion nodded. "I just thought . . . never mind."

"What? What did you think?"

"Erm . . . nothing. Forget I ever said anything. It's nothing."

Harper rolled his eyes. "Aleron Vaisey, you may be the world's worst liar. Just tell me already."

Aleron bit his lower lip. His eyes darted around the room, as if looking for an escape. Finally, sighing dramatically, he said, "Okay, I'll tell you. But you have to keep it a secret. Do you promise in the good name of Salazar Slytherin that you will not tell a soul about this?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just tell me already."

"Alright. So you know my dog, Canis . . . ."

* * *

><p><strong>A bit of a slow chapter, sorry. But I have some great stuff planned out for future chapters!<strong>

**HP fact: According to Rowling, there are three thousand wizards in Britain.**

**Random Fact: Tetraphobia is the irrational fear of the number four. **


	28. Chapter 28

**Well, it's back to school tomorrow :(. At least I had a good vacation. I went to Disney World and Universal! The Harry Potter ride was nothing short of EPIC!**

**killerpizza505: Don't worry, I'm not mad :)**

**darklilyofthevalley: Hmm. . . good idea!**

**Meagan Snow: I was thinking the same thing. I assume you're referring to his OCD in the Atlantic Complex? He actually mentions that four sounds similar to the Chinese word for death. Tetraphobia is actually not uncommon in those areas. Some of their buildings don't even have a fourth floor (similar to many buildings skipping the thirteenth floor in Western societies)!**

**Malfoyforever: Thank you. Good connection with the Zellers and the Goldsteins, you'll find out in future chapters :). (Now it looks like my smiley face has a mole!) And, yes, I did make up the TV time.**

**Note: A couple chapters back I replied to a review that asked me where I got the fact about baby platypuses. I answered, but it was cut off (fanfiction does that sometimes with super long words) what I wrote was: "animal_" (without the spaces)**

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><p>Vaisey woke up the next day horrified. Annabeth was coming back today, what would he tell her? The Slytherin didn't like to admit it, but he was actually a bit scared of the American. He could only imagine what she would do to him when she found out that he had sold out their secret to Harper. Perhaps he could catch her in a good mood.<p>

* * *

><p>Ronald Weasley was used to the unexpected. He was bet friends with Harry Potter, after all. But it came to him as more than a shock when a small Slytherin approached him during his free period.<p>

Ron groped for his wand, holding at the ready in case the kid tried anything. Once the boy was in hearing range, he shouted, "What do you want?"

The boy looked down at the ground and muttered something unintelligible.

"What?" Ron gripped his wand a little tighter, going over all of the defense spells he knew in his head. The boy didn't appear very threatening, but with Slytherins one could never know.

The kid swallowed his pride and forced himself to look Weasley in the eye, although it seemed that was the very last thing he wanted to do. "On behalf of me and my House," he said slowly, "I humbly apologize for my inappropriate behavior during the Quidditch match against Gryffindor." The boy looked absolutely disgusted with himself.

Ron was in shock. Although the words were clearly rehearsed, hearing them come out of a Slytherin's mouth was almost too much to bear. Suddenly, he began laughing. It was just too absurd. "Which professor made you do it?" he demanded.

"Nobody made me do anything,_ Weasley._ I'm trying to do something nice here, so can you just accept my apology so we can both go on with our lives?"

Ron snorted. Did he really expect him to fall for that load of rubbish? "That's a lie and you know it!" he accused. "Slytherins don't do anything nice unless there's something for them in it!"

"We're not all like that," the little boy said. His voice was quiet, but filled with indignation. "Besides, it's not like you Gryffindors are such saints yourselves! Can you honestly say that you've never insulted a Slytherin's family?"

"That's because you're all gits who work for You-Know-Who!" he redhead retorted.

That did it. Aleron slugged Ron across the face as hard as he could. How **dare** he make such a blunt statement like that! His sister had been killed by Death Eaters! The nerve of him to stereotype people like that!

Ron, who had not been expecting the blow, stumbled backwards slightly, regaining his balance just before falling over. "I can give you detention for that, you know," he said, "I'm a prefect."

Aleron rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am _soooo_ incredibly terrified."

"Anyway," said Ron, ignoring the other boy's comment, "if it wasn't for your stupid song, Fred, George, and Harry would still be on the team."

"Oh _please_," he waved his hand dismissively, "they did that to themselves. If you Gryffindors could just learn to control your tempers . . . "

"That's it! Five points from Slytherin!"

"You're a prefect, Weasley, not the headmaster. If you want to be able to take away House points, join the Industrial Squad. I'm sure Umbridge would be thrilled to have you." Then he ran before another word could be exchanged.

Aleron dashed down the corridor, not daring to slow down. If Weasley caught him, he'd get detention for sure. And something told him that Annabeth would not be thrilled if that was the outcome of his apology. Yet again, this way wasn't exactly much better either, but at least he had made an attempt. Surely it counted for _something_.

Without looking where he was going, Vaisey accidentally crashed into Laura Madley, a Hufflepuff second-year, carrying her cat. He muttered an apology and stood up, before she stopped him.

"Vaisey, wait!" she called. There was a look of extreme panic in her eyes. "I need your help."

Aleron groaned. Two good deeds in one day. This was becoming quite a burden.

Vaisey didn't know what he was expecting, but the words that came out of her mouth nearly sent him into shock. "Where's the Room of Requirement?"

"How did you . . . ?" then it dawned on him, "_Harper,_" he growled. He turned back to Laura. "What will it take to get you keep your mouth shut about this, Madley?"

"I need somewhere to keep Cookie," she said, gesturing to the large Manx in her arms. She appeared a bit nervous at first to be talking to a Slytherin, but slowly her confidence rose. "He scratched Umbridge, and now the toad lady's after her! Harper said there was a place were I could hide him. He said that you were keeping your dog there. All I needed to do was to give pay him two galleons a week. It sounded like a fair deal, so I - -"

"He did WHAT?" Vaisey began breathing heavily. "I'm going to kill him!"

* * *

><p>"Oh lighten up, would you?" Harper said, when Vaisey approached him later that day. "It's a great deal. Here," he pulled a handful of coins out of his pocket, "you can have fifty percent of the outcome."<p>

Vaisey snatched the money, but did not lower his gaze. "Do you realize what you've done?" he cried.

"Of course I do. I devised a plan that will make us rich. RICH! We'll have more money than the Malfoys!"

"You idiot. Annabeth's going to skin both of us alive before we can get enough money to buy ourselves a pair of shoes! By the way, exactly how many pets are we looking after?"

Forrest shrugged. "A few. Ah, here we are." He opened the door to the Room of Requirement and Vaisey nearly fainted.

The chamber was filled with pets of all sizes. Dogs, cats, snakes, birds, toads, and rabbits. Vaisey stood there in awe for a couple of moments, before regaining his composure. He glared at the other boy. "And how do you suppose we are going to care for all of these animals?"

"Don't worry. I got it covered." Harper clapped his hands and a small girl came up to him. "Branstone, how are the animals doing?"

"Good," the girl replied. "I was having a bit of trouble with Spike, but I got him to calm down."

"Excellent," he pulled out a galleon and gave it to her, before shooing the girl off. "See? I got it all under control."

Vaisey couldn't believe it. Harper was PAYING other students to take care of the animals. It was . . . it was BLOODY BRILLIANT! However, he couldn't let the other boy know he was impressed. "I'd just like to know why people can't take care of their own pets. I mean, at least I had a valid reason for keeping Canis here."

"I dunno. I suppose they think their animals get bored. Can you really blame them? Other than owls, the animals just sit around all day doing nothing. The dogs don't even get to _see_ their owners most of the year!"

Aleron, who knew that Harper had never owned a pet in his life, rolled his eyes. "And you honestly expect me to believe that you care? If it wasn't for the money, you wouldn't be in this business at all! Besides, I don't have time for this. I have to deal with my own dog. So get these animals out of here!"

Harper put on a pouty-face that was truly pathetic. "Oh, come on, Vaisey. Think about the children."

"The_ children_ should be able to take care of their own animals," he retorted. "I trusted you and you let me down, although I don't know why I'm surprised."

Just then the doors opened and a very angry Annabeth stormed in. "VAISEEEEY!"

* * *

><p><strong>Note: The last line was based off of a famous line in The Simpson when Superintendent Chalmers yells "SKINNEEER!".<strong>

**HP fact: HP WORLD IN UNIVERSAL IN AWESOME! (that is a fact!) **

**Actual HP Fact: Both of Molly Weasley's brothers, Fabian and Gideon, were killed in the first war against Voldemort.**

**Random fact: Mohammed, the famous Muslim prophet, is currently the most popular name in the world. **


	29. Chapter 29

**Meagan Snow: Yeah, don't worry, I'll continue it eventually. Right now I'm mainly focused on this fic, but occasionally updating others.**

**A Sky Full of Lighters: Yep.**

**killerpizza504: Yeah, I was wondering about that. It did say 505 last time, I went back and checked. Good luck with your new school. If you get lost, maybe you'll secret passages like in Hogwarts!**

**PjoHp._Spells_and_words (sorry about the spaces, the site won't let me write your name otherwise): Yeah, I actually live in the Midwest (ironically, at night, it was actually colder in Orlando than it was at home!) We were on vacation. We go every other year or so to Disney, Universal was a special treat. **

**loretta537: Thank you, I'm so glad you like it! :)**

**hAdes_Lyth_Erin_madrigalX: Yes he is.**

**strangebloke: Alright, thanks for letting me know. If I ever revise that chapter, I'll be sure to change that.**

**AN:/ Sorry for the wait, I meant to update last Sunday, but I had to take my high school entrance exam. I hope I get into honors English!**

* * *

><p>The blond girl charged in, seizing her friend by the shirt collar. "What did you <em>do<em>?" she demanded. "I swear, I can't leave you for five minutes alone! I'm gone for less than a week and you open up a pet shop? I'm going to kill you! And what's _he_ doing here?" she exclaimed, gesturing towards Aleron.

"Well," said Forrest somewhat awkwardly, ignoring the death glare he was receiving from Vaisey. "It looks like you two have a lot to talk about, I'll just be going . . . " he began to back away slowly.

"Oh no," swift as a fox, Aleron's hand grabbed ahold of Harper's shirt collar, making a three-way collar chain. "You're not going anywhere."

"Stop it! Stop it!" he begged, "you'll stretch out the shirt! I'll stay. I'll stay, I promise." Vaisey let go and the other boy straightened his collar.

"I can't believe you betrayed me!" cried Annabeth. "How could you do something so incredibly _stupid?"_

"He's **my** dog! I can do whatever I bloody please with him! Besides, it wasn't even my fault it was - -" Aleron glanced in Forest's direction. The other boy's eyes were pleading with him not to give him away.

Annabeth said, "Well, this outta be good."

"It was . . ." Vaisey paused, and against all Slytherin instinct said, "it was my fault. I told a couple of people, hoping that they could help me with Canis. I'm sorry."

Harper couldn't believe it. Vaisey had lied for_ him_. Why on earth would he do something so_ stupid_? "Oh, shut it, Aleron," Harper said, "I'm not afraid of a girl. I forced Vaisey to tell and then I told a few people. There. Sue me."

Harper barely had time to notice Annabeth's throbbing vain before he was lifted off the ground. The look in her eyes was a combination of anger and a bit of curiosity. "You created this business?" she asked, carefully articulating every word.

Harper gulped, then he started blabbering. "Yeah. I was kidding about the whole girl thing, by the way. Umm. . . here, you can have some of the prophets if you want," he held out a handful of coins, which Annabeth snatched.

"Hey, Harper," said Dennis Creevey, "I finished scrubbing the cages. What do you want me to do now?"

Forrest ignored him, instead turning to Annabeth. "So . . .um, are we good, or . . . ?"

"Who else knows about this place?" she asked, interrupting him.

"Err . . . just me, you, Vaisey, Branstone, Creevey, Wespert, and Madley."

Annabeth paused, considering his words very carefully. Even she had to admit, it _was_ pretty impressive. "You know," she said, "I always was against keeping these animals locked up all day. . . maybe we could make this work."

Harper stared at her, his mouth agape. Surely his ears were deceiving him. Had he really gotten off the hook so easily? He looked at the Ravenclaw, scanning her over, trying to see any signs of trickery. He saw none. Still, she looked uncomfortable. Her foot was tapping, her eyes darted around the room, and her hands could not seem to stay still. Something was on her mind.

"But," Annabeth added, "we need to have a way to make sure that nobody snitches," she glared at Aleron as she said those words. "Is there some sort of magical binding contract that we could sign?"

"YES!" cried Dennis suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him, having forgotten that the boy was there to begin with. Creevey turned bright pink. "Um . . . I-I mean, I once heard of this thing that creates a magical seal if you sign it- - not that I've actually ever seen it!"

Nigel Wespurt, another second-year Gryffindor who knew exactly what he was talking about, gave his friend an incredulous look. "Real smooth, mate," he muttered.

Harper was suspicious. "Oh, _really_?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "And _where_, might I ask, would a mudblood like you hear such a thing?"

"H- - " his reply was cut short by a punch in the gut from Nigel.

"What he means to say is that we overheard the Weasley twins brainstorming blackmail ideas in the Common Room one night and it came up in their conversation. We've never actually seen it done before. _Right_, Dennis?" he nudged his friend hard in the ribs.

"Right!"

Annabeth wondered how stupid those boys thought they were. She had never heard anyone lie so badly in her life. But she could worry about that later. "Alright, guys," she said, "if you can get me one of those contracts thingies and prove to me that it works, you both get raises."

"What?" Harper demanded, "I never agreed to this!"

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><p>"What were you thinking?" cried Nigel in a loud whisper, "you bloody idiot, are you<em> trying<em> to get us all caught? _Expelliarmus!" _Dennis's wand flew into his hand. He threw it back. "Well, are you?"

Dennis looked down and in a very small voice said, "No."

It was later and the two boys were in the Room of Requirement again - - this time for a DA meeting. Harry had told them to spend the first fifteen minutes in partners, having a "one-on-one" duel. Creevey and Wespert dueled in a corner. Although it was unlikely that anybody else would listen to them, the boys spoke in hushed voices just to be sure.

"I mean, did you see the look on Harpers face? He knows something is up. I don't know, Creevey, maybe we should just quit."

"Are you barking? If we quit now, he'll be suspicious for sure. I'd rather take my chances."

"But they expect us to find the charm," Nigel protested, deflecting his friend's hex, "What are we going to do? Just walk up to Potter? 'Oh, hello. You know that super secret organization that we created? Well, we kind of almost let it slip, so we're going to need a hexed sign-up sheet for our other secret club that we're part of, in order to get away with it. Alright, thanks!'"

Dennis held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, you win. I agree that I made a stupid mistake back there- -"

"A _really_ stupid mistake."

"- -But maybe we can convince Harry Potter to tell us about the charm. We'll pretend that we're curious."

The other boy snorted. "That's a load of hogwash! Potter wouldn't just hand a spell like that over to a couple of second-years."

"Okay, fine. Well, maybe we can get Granger to hand it over."

"No, Granger's too smart. She'll see through our lies in a second. Weasley would be the best option."

"Fine, so we'll talk to Weasley. He's right over there." Dennis abandoned his duel and ran up to Ron, who was in an intense battle with Padma Patil who still hadn't forgiven him for the incident the previous year. Dennis tugged at the older boy's robes. "Hey, Ron!" he said.

"Not now, Creevey, I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"But I just need one tiny favor."

"If it's an autograph, I'll give it to you later."

"It's not an autograph. I just need to ask to a quick question."

"What question? _Diffindo_!"

"You know the paper you had us all sign?"

"The contract? Yeah. _Progeto!_ Why?"

"How exactly does the spell on it work? I'm just curious."

Ron shrugged. "I dunno. I don't really care either. It's Hermione that knows about that kind of stuff. _Stupify!_" he narrowly missed Patil, who came back at him with the most vicious tickling charm Dennis had ever seen.

The younger boy's face fell. "Alright. Thanks anyway, Ron." He returned back to Wespert. They were going to need a new technique.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the long wait. Can anyone guess how Creevey and Wespert will get the spell (<span>if<span> they get the spell)? Also if anybody had any ideas for this story then please let me know in your reviews.**

**HP Fact: There are 772 characters mentioned in the Harry Potter series.**

**Random Fact: Rats laugh when they are tickled.**


	30. Chapter 30

**killer_pizza_504: Thanks**

**dark_lily_of_the_valley: I'm getting them from numerous sources. They include television, my science and history text books, several websites, a few apps, and a couple of people with far too much free time. I have been obsessed with factoids for years, so a bunch of these facts I know longer remember where I found them. If any of these facts seem a bit strange, I usually check it on two to three websites.**

**Meagan Snow: Hmm . . . interesting.**

**Pjo_Hp._Spells_and_words: Good ideas.**

**A Sky Full of Lighters: Good idea.**

**Daughter of Athena: Don't worry, Harry Potter will be making an appearance.**

**Cookie05: Cool.**

**I meant to update much sooner, but there was the Super Bowl (go Giants!) and then I had a bunch of tests . . . anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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><p>Some of the older students and teachers had heard rumors, but none of them could ever find the said "pet-haven". Though try they did. Umbridge had put all of the Industrial Squad on the case the second she had found out, she also brought in several students for questioning, a group of suspicious fifth-year Gryffindors appeared to be her prime suspects, but she was looking in the wrong place.<p>

As the weeks rolled by, Harper, Chase, and Vaisey's business continued to thrive. As their pockets filled with galleons, they were able to afford luxuries for themselves as well as the animals (their employes weren't doing too shabby either, for that matter.) Annabeth had been extra careful not to appear suspicious, and always kept her expenses well-hidden. Aleron normally was fairly responsible for the most part, but even he could not resist boasting a little bit about his cool knick-knacks every now and then to impress his friends.

As for Harper . . . well, what are you going to do?

* * *

><p>"Where did you get that?" Vaisey demanded.<p>

"Get what?"

"You know what I'm talking about! The big, bouncy thing!"

"Oh, this? It's called a trampoline," Harper explained as he bounced up and down.

"Okay, and why, may I ask is it doing in the common room?"

"Because it wouldn't fit in my dorm, duh!"

Vaisey mentally slapped himself. How thick could you get? "Harper, remember how we had that discussion about being discreet with our money? Well, this does not fit into that category!" But Harper was not listening, he just continued to bounce, without a care in the world. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up Down. Up Down. Up. . . "You have to get it out of here!" he hissed, "If somebody sees it- -"

"Mr. Vaisey, Mr. Harper," came a drawling voice. It was barely a whisper, yet at the same time impossible to miss. The two first-years gulped.

Although Snape was not nearly as harsh with the Slytherins as he was with children from other Houses, most of the snakes did well not to upset him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape demanded, eying the trampoline as if it were a bomb that could go off at any minute.

"It's . . . it's a trampoline, sir," Harper explained. His voice was odd pitched and he was sweating like mad. Snape was one of the few people Forrest respected and feared. "It's a type of toy. You bounce on it, and- -"

"I am very well aware of what the function of a trampoline is," he hissed. "What I want to know is what this . . . this abomination is doing my Common Room. Care to explain?"

"Professor," Adrian Pucey entered the Common Room. "Profssor Snape, you're needed in a staff meeting on the fourth floor."

"Can't it wait? I am in the middle of reprimanding."

Pucey shook his head. "Sorry, sir. I don't think so. Umbridge said it was urgent!"

"Very well," Snape headed for the door, but not before giving Harper one last venomous glare.

"Thanks, Puce," said Aleron, "we owe you one." He turned back to Harper. "As for you, Mister, I can't believe you were so stupid! What part about 'subtle' don't you understand?"

"Oh, lay of it, Vase. I was just having a little fun, that's all! What did you do with your money? - -No, wait. Don't tell me, I already know. You gave it to a certain Hufflepuff, didn't you?"

Vaisey's cheeks turned bright red. "Shut up."

Harper made a kissy-face. "Come on, admit it," he said gleefully, poking the other boy with his wand, "you _so_ fancy her!"

"I do not!" he shouted indignantly.

Harper grinned. "Yes you do!" he said in a slightly sing-songy voice, "I see the way you look at her! Come on, just admit it."

The other boy scowled. "I'm not admitting anything, because it's not true!"

"Oi, what's going on here?" came a voice. The boys looked up. Adrian Pucey was standing over them. They had forgotten he was there.

Pucey was a seventh-year. He had been a prefect for both his fifth and sixth years for Slytherin House. He also was a chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team. And although he technically no longer had a position of authority, he was still one of the most respected members of his House. He was smart and crafty, and was also unusually patient compared to most of his other House-Mates. This made him a favorite among the younger students.

"Vaisey fancies this girl, but won't admit it!" Harper announced. His tone of voice appeared to be whining, like a small child tattletaling, which, incidentally, was exactly was he was doing.

"Harper won't mind his own business and leave me alone!" Vaisey countered.

A small smirk appeared on Adrian's face. "Which girl?" he asked slyly.

Harper answered before Vaisey could protest. "A Hufflepuff girl named Rose Zeller!"

"Shut up!" he growled. "_Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!_" Vaisey put his hands on his ears, "I can't hear you! La la la la!"

Pucey snorted. "Oh, come on, Vaisey. Having a girlfriend is nothing to be ashamed of- -well, I mean as long as her blood lineage is respectable."

"But she's not my- -" Aleron stopped, realizing that he was not going to convince anyone. "You know what? I don't care. You can believe whatever lies you want, but that doesn't make them so. I'm going to go talk to someone who will actually listen to me."

"Okay," Harper replied, "tell Rosie Posie I said hi!"

Grumbling under his breath, and trying his best to ignore his House-Mates, Aleron Vaisey exited the Common Room.

He ran up the staircase and out of the dungeons, into the main hall. He wanted to be as far away from Harper as possible. The Room of Requirement, that's where he would go. It was somewhere were he could be alone.

Without looking where he was going, Vaisey accidentally slammed into an older student, knocking down all of his stuff. He looked up, and staring back at him was none other than Harry Potter himself.

* * *

><p>Annabeth held out the sheet of parchment. "Did you charm it?" she asked.<p>

Nott shook his head. "Why would I do that? I mean, think about it, what would I possibly have to gain?"

"My annoyance?"

"Oh, Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth," Theodore made a clicking noise with his tongue in disapproval, "Poor, naive, little Annabeth. When it comes to my actions, it is for myself, and myself only. I am the priority. Others are there purely to do my bidding."

"So you only act based on your own personal greed?"

"Now, now. We mustn't put it so harshly. There's no good and evil. It's like they say, every man for himself."

Annabeth nodded, trying to hide the disgust on her face. Though as much as she didn't want to admit it, Theodore's logic sort of made sense. Life would be so much easier if one just casted the fact that others had feelings aside. It was survival of the fittest taken to the extreme.

While Chase knew in her heart that she often prejudged people herself, she still recognized them as people. True, Annabeth was particularly snobby when it came down to intelligence- -only associating with those clever enough to have a sophisticated conversation with her- - but this, this was more than just that. Nott seemed to think of the world as some big chess game. Every loss was a minor setback, but it didn't truly matter as long as he won the game in the long run. If someone was of no use to him, he would throw them aside, they were only a pawn in his game of life. Everyone was a tool to him. Was that what he thought og her as? Merely a tool to help him reach his goal?

He was a true Slytherin at heart, loyal to only one person: himself - - or so he claimed.

But Annabeth knew in her heart that wasn't true. Otherwise why would he be spending so much time trying to decode a message from his long, dead mother? Unless of course there was an ulterior motive- - could that be it? Was Nott really that selfish?- - No, Annabeth refused to believe it. Nobody was truly evil at heart. Were they?

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><p><strong>So to recap: Aleron Vaisey is being cranky when he runs into Harry Potter; Annabeth is mentally debating human consciousness; Theodore Nott has a twisted mind; Nigel and Dennis still need to get the spell; and now, thanks to a certain Forrest Harper, the Slytherin Common Room now has a trampoline!<strong>

**What will happen next? **

**Feel free to comment. I especially want to hear your input on what should happen between Vaisey and Harry. But please note that it cannot be some something that will change the overall course of the OOP.**

**HP fact: J.K. Rowling's parents met at King's Cross Station.**

**Random Fact: New Zealand was the first country in modern times to grant women the right to vote in the year 1893.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Percabeth Vampire Lover: Thank you, I'm glad you like it!**

**mirie: Interesting idea.**

**Book_Maniac_Girl: Unfortunately, interaction between main characters during crossovers puts the author on very thin ice. She has already spoken to Ron, and I may or may not put a scene involving Harry or Hermione later on in the story.**

**Cookie05: Thanks!**

**hunter of artemis 73: Yeah, that would be cool.**

**killerpizza504: Sorry, typo. I wrote the last chapter over another one and I must have missed it when replying to my reviews. Thanks for the heads up, I went back and fixed it.**

**Meagan Snow: Sort of.**

**miller123456789: I have no idea. By the way, I really like your profile, it looks like mine except organized. The random facts were really cool (because everyone knows how I feel about random facts!) I knew all except for eleven of them. And just so you know, after death the skin dries up, thus making it appear as if the hair has grown longer (I am referring to number eleven on your list.) Also, elephants are not the only mammals that cannot jump. Sloths, hippos, and rhinos are incapable of doing so as well (number twenty.) Both of these, however, are extremely common misconceptions. **

**Lilly: Good question. Percy will be mentioned for sure at some point in this story. And I may or may not have an epilogue involving him. However, he wil not play a major role in this story since it takes place prior to the events in TLT. **

**AN/: Yay, President's Day! No school! I recently saw the Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe. It was a good movie, but I hated the the ending.**

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><p>"We'll start with a simple experiment," Annabeth said. "A dog's main sense is smell, so I figured if we got Canis something with a muggle's scent and slowly got him accustomed to it, he could learn that muggles aren't so threatening after all."<p>

Vaisey nodded. It made sense to him.

Annabeth pulled out a small, shinny black case. "This was my stepmother's favorite lipstick. It came from some brand in Paris with a name I couldn't pronounce. When she heard that the company was going out of business, she bought every last damn container the store had! A couple of days later, the two of us got into a fight and she got me grounded. So to get even, I snuck into her bathroom in the middle of the night and stole every last lipstick she had- -I couldn't really tell the difference between the brands." Annabeth cleared her throat. "Anyway, enough with my reminiscing, let's try it out." She opened the container and held it about a meter from Canis's nose.  
>The dog's reaction was instantaneous. Immediately after the lipstick was opened, the Crup pulled his ears forward, hunched his shoulders, and pulled his teeth into a menacing "grin". Canis's tail moved back and fourth with excitement and he began to bark loudly. Vaisey pulled back on the leash, trying to keep the dog under control. He was amazed how much strength the little animal had.<p>

Annabeth closed the lipstick and sealed it in a Ziplock bag. "Okay, you weren't kidding."

"Crups were bred to attack muggles; it's not his fault, he's just doing what he's supposed to do."

"Well, Christmas is only a few days away, and there is no way Canis is ready for his test . . ." Annabeth chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "What if I take him back to the camp with me over holidays? Then he can get more interaction in a safe environment."

"Camp? What camp?"

"Oh it's . . . uh . . . where I live."

"Why are there muggles there?"

"Well, they aren't _really_ muggles. They just . . . well, they're kind of like me . . . just . . ." Annabeth's voice trailed off. "It's kind of like a summer camp for American wizards and witches, but to some it's open all year long. Let's leave it at that."

Vaisey knew that she was lying. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Still, he decided not to press her about it. She _was_ doing him a huge favor, after all.

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><p>Rose Zeller did not show up until halfway through dinner that night. The main course was nearly finished when she entered. But instead of going to her own table, Zeller ran over to the Ravenclaws. "Anthony!" she cried, beckoning him over frantically.<p>

For a moment Goldstein appeared confused. Suddenly his eyes widened. "It's _tonight_?" he mouthed. Rose nodded and the prefect groaned loudly. "Sorry, Padma," he said, "we can talk about Ancient Runes later, there's something I need to do." And with that, he and Rose exited the Great Hall.

A couple of student watched them leave curiously, but only one dared to follow them. Making sure that no one was looking, Forest Harper tiptoed out of the hall, determined to find out what they were up to.

"Did they get it?"

"Of course. They've been doing it since the 70s when a couple of Islamic students needed to celebrate Ramadan. The room is designed especially for this purpose." He smiled comfortingly at the younger girl. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure your dad would be proud that your keeping your faith. By the way, how is that going?"

Rose moaned. "Ugh, it's brutal! I can hardly eat a thing. And I have to lock myself in my dorm all Saturday. My friends all probably think I'm a hermit or something!" Anthony laughed.

The two entered a dimly lit room. Harper waited a couple of seconds before opening the door a tiny crack. Inside the room there was a table with two candelabras. Harper watched in confusion as Zeller lit the first candle whist muttering something in a strange language. Rose lit Anthony's candle and then placed her own inside of the middle of the candelabra.

Anthony mimicked her steps as he lit only two of the candles on his own candelabra, speaking the same, strange words.

The two looked at each other and grinned. Rose's eyes wandered before noticing an eye peeking through the door. "_Harper!_"

"Uh-oh."

* * *

><p>"Alright, Nott. I have been generous with you. I have been kind. I have been considerate. But as of now, my patience is running out. Do you understand?"<p>

Theodore looked up from the book he was reading. "Huh? Did you say something, Malfoy?"

Draco, much to Nott's amusement, shook with fury. "Why are you being so difficult? We're on the same side here!- - And why is there a trampoline in the corner?"

"Don't tell me whose side I'm on!"

"Oh, lay off it, Nott. We both know where we're going to end up someday. We'll be just like our fathers. I know you know what they're after. Why are you fighting me?"

"That's not true. Maybe I'll decide to go a different path. Unlike you, I'm my own person who can make his own decisions. That is because unlike you, I'm not bound to my father."

Malfoy took a step back. He had never heard such a terrible thing. Although not truly understanding where Nott was going, he was not about to stand there and be insulted like a . . . a . . . well, someone who gets insulted, anyways. "I'm not bound to my dad!" **_Hufflepuffs!_** _They always get insulted. Yeah, I should have gone with that._

Theodore smirked knowingly. "I **do**, however, happen to know what weapon they are after. I also know that something critical is going to happen tonight. He is on the move."

Draco did not believe him. How could he possibly know when the Dark Lord would make his move. There was no way he was trusted with that sort of information.

Three hours later, Arthur Weasley was attacked by Voldemort's snake, Nagini.

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><p><strong>For those of you that didn't know what they were doing, Rose and Anthony were lighting the candles for the first night of Hanukah. Yep, Hanukah of the year 1995 began on December 18, the night Harry had the dream about Mr. Weasley getting mauled in the Department of Mysteries.<strong>

**In honor of President's Day I'm putting an extra Harry Potter fact.**

**Random HP fact 1: Harry Potter's name is mentioned 18956 times in the series (and, no, I did not count. Even I'm not THAT crazy!)**

**Random HP fact 2: Neville Longbottom actually asked the Sorting Hat to put him in Hufflepuff because he found Gryffindor's reputation for bravery to be too intimidating. **

**Random fact: There are more Barbie Dolls in Italy than there are Canadians in Canada.**

**So how did Nott know what was going to happen? Does anyone want to take a guess? **


	32. Chapter 32

**killerpizza504: Sorry**

**Cookie05: Yeah, it does make you wonder, doesn't it?**

**Alex: Good observation.**

**miller123456789: Thank you!**

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><p>The last few days of the term practically flew by and before the students knew it, they were going home for the holidays. Nearly every student was thrilled about the break, which was why Vaisey was surprised to see Zeller moping around the corridors with a forlorn expression on her face.<p>

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Rose shrugged, carefully avoiding any and all eye contact. "Just a bit homesick, I suppose."

"Oh. Well, isn't that sort of a good thing? I mean, you'll be going home soon, right?"

Rose looked up at Aleron. Her large blue eyes were puffy and swollen, likely from crying. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded, even forcing a small smile. "Yeah, I guess. Will you be returning home as well?"

"I think so. Mum will be glad to have us back, Kayla can be quite a handf- -" he stopped, ears turning pink. There was an awkward silence. Aleron cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, I'll be returning."

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><p>Sneaking Canis out of the castle was a difficult task that almost ended in a complete disaster.<p>

"Hurry!" Aleron kept urging her. "Otherwise someone will see!"

"I'm going as fast as I can considering that I'm carrying a bloody dog under my robes!" _Wait, did she just use the word 'bloody' as an exclamation? Oh gods, she was turning into one of **them**!_ "If I run, people will get suspicious. Our chances are much better if we just walk."

Reluctantly, the Slytherin went along with her plan, whist grumbling irritably to himself.

They made it most of the way without incident. But this was Hogwarts, after all, and nothing ever works out as expected in Hogwarts!

"Where do you think you're going?" Draco Malfoy stood by the front door. The older boy, now out of his school uniform, was dressed like a prince. Draco wore a long, flowing, emerald-green cloak with sheen; a button-down silk, very _expensive_-looking shirt; slacks; and shoes with gold buckles. Next to him, stood his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and a very bored looking Blaise Zabini.

"Home," the two first-years answered in unison.

"Empty your pockets."

"What?" Aleron spat. His eyes glancing nervously at Annabeth, who was trying her best to conceal the dog underneath her robes.

"You heard me. Empty your pockets."

Annabeth put her hands on her hips. "Why should we? What do you think we have in there, a bomb?"

Malfoy exchanged looks with his mates, none of them were quite sure what a bomb was, so they chose not to answer. "Just do it," he ordered.

"No. Not until you tell us why. Humor us."

Malfoy sighed. "If you must know, one of the students has taken an object of some importance that belongs to me. I would like to have it back. Now, will you please be good little children and empty your pockets or I will have to ask my friends to pat you down in a not-so-gentle manner. What will it be?"

"That's an invasion of privacy!" Annabeth cried in outrage, while at the same time, Vaisey said, "What sort of object?"

Zabini answered Vaisey's question before Malfoy could protest. "He lost his broach. It's small and gold with the Malfoy seal on it."

"And why would we have your stupid broach? What do you think we would want with it?"

"You tell me!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "If you want to find it, I suggest that you limit the suspects down to those most likely to take it. Because if you think about it, patting down every student at Hogwarts isn't the most rational way to go about things, now is it?"

Aleron gulped. "What she meant to say was - -"

"Merlin, I've had enough. Boys, pat them down. And when you're finished, hex them into next week!"

"Oi!" came a voice from behind them. "What's taking so long? Some of us want to go home."

"I was just explaining to these first years that they need to empty their pockets before exiting, Nott. Unfortunately, they are not being very cooperative."

Theodore gave him a look. "Why? Just for amusement?"

"No. Somebody stole my broach."

"You mean the one with the Malfoy seal on it?"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Yes, that one."

Nott pulled out a shinny gold object from his pocket. "Is this it?"

"Where did you get that?" he demanded. "Give it to me!"

The other boy rolled his eyes. "You left it on your night stand after polishing it last night." He handed it to him, winking at Annabeth and Aleron.

As soon as Malfoy clipped it on, his hair turned a shade of hot pink. Zabini gave Nott a look. "Are you sure that the Weasley twins didn't decide to 'improve' it?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, they may have done that, too."

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><p>To be quite frank, Annabeth didn't understand why they celebrated Christmas at Camp Half-Blood. Seriously! Their parents were freaking <em>gods<em>! It just didn't make sense. Yet again, recent statistics showed that over ten percent of Jewish households had a Christmas tree too. She supposed Christmas had become more of an international present giving day than an actual religious holiday. The world was messed up.

Annabeth walked Canis into the camp, keeping a tight grip on the leash. She wasn't sure how the crup would react to her friends at the camp. They weren't wizards, but at the same time they weren't exactly Muggles either.

Canis's ears perked up at the sound of people, his tails wagging vigorously.

Annabeth realized just how much she missed the camp. True, she had only been away for about two months, but it felt like a year. Annabeth observed the lush, green grass, the sweet smell of strawberries. She wanted to take it all in, to never leave again. She was back home.

Annabeth beamed when she caught sight of Luke Castellan. "Hi, Luke!" she called happily, running over to hug him. What she did **not** notice, however, was Canis's body language. The little dog's ears were pressed flatly against his head and he arched over, shoulders humped and teeth bared, clear sign of aggression in animals.

Taking no notice to this, the eleven-year-old girl happily hugged her long time friend.

Conner and Travis Stole, two of Luke's half brothers, grinned mischievously at the sight. "What?" Travis said, pouting slightly. "No hug for us?"

Suddenly, and without warning, Canis charged. The tiny animal launched itself at Luke, sinking his teeth deep into the boy's leg. Luke howled in pain as Annabeth tried, but to no avail, to remove the dog from his vicious grip.

"Let go!" she said through gritted teeth."Leave him alone. Bad dog!"

They say that dogs are the best judges of character. Had Annabeth known that in a few years' time, the very same boy she had once loved would be trying to kill her, perhaps she wouldn't have been so hard on the little guy.

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><p><strong>YAY, an update!<strong>

**Now I have a question for all of you readers: Does anyone know when Annabeth's birthday is? It's important for later on in the story. I've been trying find it, but I can't. Anyway, if you know, or think you know, please let me know in your reviews.**

**HP fact: In the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic in London, visitors must dial the number 62442. On a phone, this would spell "magic".**

**Random fact: Helium is the only known element that does not solidify.**

**BONUS PJO fact: What do Annabeth and Clarisse's names have in common? They both are anagrams for their parents' names with a few extra letters added to it. "Ares" and "Athena".**


	33. Chapter 33

**Note: Everybody's answers differed as to when Annabeth's birthday is, so for the sake of this story, it's in mid-February. **

**Now, to my lovely reviewers:**

**PjoHp_Spells_and_words: Okay, thanks!**

**killerpizza504: Thank you!**

**SM. Raleigh: lol**

**Meagan Snow: I think that's Percy's.**

**lizard186: First of all, I'm glad you like the story. As for your question: it just strikes me as odd that they celebrate Christmas in places like Hogwarts and Camp Half-blood (mostly the latter.) But to be honest, I'm actually Jewish, so it's not really my place to say. It's just something that I have observed. But just to be clear, the last thing I want to do is judge anyone, I've seen families that take Christmas very serious. Of course, the same thing can be said about Hanukah, that it's all about presents, I mean. **

**lizr18: Hmm. . . interesting theory. But she would still have to appear at _some_ point, right?**

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><p>"Check-mate," Annabeth announced, moving her queen forward. A triumphant smirk played on her lips. "Rematch?" she asked.<p>

Her bunkmate, the only other year-round Athena camper, Malcolm, groaned. We've already played eight times!"

Annabeth shrugged. "What's your point?" she asked, already beginning to regather the pieces. She couldn't stop now! Annabeth had won six of those eight games; one of them had been a draw.

She had received the magical chessboard that morning. It had been an early gift from Vaisey, with a note claiming that he couldn't bare to wait until Christmas to send it to her. The board was carved out of some expensive-looking stone and each piece was decorated with such perfection, she was sure it must have taken the artist months to carve each one.

Not wanting to waste the gift, she immediately put it to good use. By midday, she had already bored Malcolm out of his wits.

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><p>"He sent you a log-distance present? That's SO romantic!" Drew gushed. "So what are you getting him?"<p>

"Look out!" shouted Lee Fletcher as a volleyball headed straight towards her. Fletcher ran and hit the ball just in time, pushing the Aphrodite girl out of the way. Drew shrieked loudly as she hit the ground, complaining about how he messed up her hair, demanding an apology.

Lee rolled his eyes and helped her up, muttering something about how he would never understand girls, before retreating to the climbing wall.

"Great job!" Pollux cried sarcastically from the other side of the net. "Now the teams are uneven!" He groaned, "Come on, Castor," he said, indicating to his twin, "Let's go to the arena."

The other kids all grumbled as left as well, with an exception of Annabeth who was tying her shoes.

Drew pouted and looked at her. "**You're** not mad at me, are you, Annabelle?" Drew looked as if she was about to cry.

Annabeth herself had been planning to leave as well once her shoe was tied, but she ended up taking pity on the girl. Drew was only ten, which made her younger than most campers (she had been an exception) and the whole experience was fairly new to her and likely overwhelming. Besides, if she didn't say anything, Drew might start crying and she would look like a monster. "Don't worry about it," she said, "Apollo campers are really vain. They don't like it when people tell them to apologize."

Drew nodded but still looked upset. Annabeth sighed. "What would make you feel better?"

"Going to see the pegasuses!" she said, instantly cheery.

"Pegasus," she corrected, "the plural of pegasus is pegasus. Like sheep or moose or shar pei. Some say pegasi, although I prefer pegasus. I suppose the latter would fall into the category of 'octopi'. Either way, it's not pegasuses."

Drew rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't know what a shar poo is - - or particularly care, but I want to see the _pegasus_," she said, carefully enunciating the last word just to annoy her.

"Hey, Annabeth!" called Malcolm. "Your dog left us an early Christmas present on the floor of our cabin!"

Annabeth, relieved for an excuse to get away from Drew, bolted for the Athena cabin. Still, Drew's previous question repeated in her mind:_ What WAS she going to get him? _She had originally been planning on a paper bird that she had charmed to fly around by itself. Annabeth had been so proud of herself because that had been a fifth-year spell, although now it seemed rather flimsy and trivial compared to the gift she had received from him. Perhaps she could get the bird to do something more impressive than just fly, but nothing came to mind.

When she reached the cabin, Canis happily greeted her by running around in circles. Malcolm was eyeing him oddly.

"Is it just me," he said slowly, "or does that dog have two tails?"

"Mutation," Annabeth answered a little too quickly. "The family who owns him don't believe I tail docking."

Her half-brother raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but said nothing. He indicated to where the mess was and Annabeth went to clean it up. Making sure that Malcolm wasn't looking, she pulled out her wand from her boot, "Wingardium Leviosa," she whispered, causing the feces to rise into the air. Annabeth concentrated on moving it until it reached the trash on the other side of the room. She had not once touched the ordure. She smiled proudly.

She really did love magic.

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><p>As the next few days went by, Annabeth wrapped presents to her fellow campers and a few for her close friends at Hogwarts. Some had a lot of thought put into them, such as Luke's invisible armor. Others, however, were thought of in a few seconds, for example, Drew's present from Annabeth consisted of one of her stepmother's old lipsticks (which may or may not have been used).<p>

When Christmas day finally arrived, she received numerous gifts from her friends at Hogwarts and the camp. Fred and George got her a variety of new products (a portion of which was given as a Christmas present to the Stoll brothers). Rose Zeller gave her a bulletin board, which she gladly stuck on her wall. And Seamus Finnigan gave her a sketchbook for her buildings. Even Harper gave a fancy letter-carrying pouch for Admete.

The best part by far was when Grover came back. He had been monitoring a school in New York, Yankee or Yancy something. It was so good to see him, that Annabeth did not even commend him for eating half of the Christmas banquet (not to mention several other inedible objects).

Still, one question lingered in the back of her mind: What would she get Vaisey?

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><p>The first time Annabeth had snuck Canis through the airport, she had given the dog a sleeping potion so that he wouldn't attack anybody. After two weeks of thorough training, and due to the fact that she misplaced the second vile containing the potion, Canis walked through the airport on a leash.<p>

In retrospect, that may have not been such a good idea.

Canis was absolutely terrified by the new environment. It was, big, loud and full of strangers! The little dog immediately switched to defense-mode, barking at anyone who came too close to them. Fortunately, nobody was injured, or else there would have been serious issues.

_But he was so well behaved at camp,_ Annabeth thought. What could have triggered his aggression at the airport? _Well, it could have been a lot of contributing factors,_ she reasoned. _There were far more people at the airport than camp. The camp was in more of a natural setting, which may have relaxed him. And lastly, and probably most likely, was that maybe Canis didn't see the demigods as Muggles. But that wouldn't explain why he attacked Luke. . ._

This was going to require some thought.

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><p>Upon returning to school, things did not stay calm for long. After only a couple of days back at school, a terrible rumor began to form that Broderick Bode was strangled to death in St. Mungo's by a Devil's Snare. It was a rather morbid way to start a new year.<p>

There was a memorial for him on the first Saturday in the Great Hall, Annabeth left early. She felt out of place, and, although she knew it was rude, she was bored out of her mind, and couldn't force herself to sit still. She figured that it would be more disrespectful to sit there a fidget than to leave quietly without making a scene.

When she reached the Common Room, Annabeth saw that someone was already there. It made her feel a little less guilty about leaving the memorial. She noticed that the girl was Luna Lovegood. "Hey," she called.

Luna looked up from the magazine she was reading. "Hello, Annabeth," she said, "I heard you come up."

Annabeth glanced at the other girl, and noticed something for the first time. "Your eyes are gray," she said.

She nodded. "Yes, so are yours."

Blond hair, gray eyes. . . "Are you reading upside down?"

"Yes," Luna replied mildly.

Annabeth remembered learning that sometimes dyslexic children would find it easier to read upside down. It wasn't something that she did personally, but she knew others who did. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you reading it like that?"

Luna shrugged. "I like to."

Annabeth supposed that it was possible that the other girl was just plain crazy, but it seemed that there was something else. Could she be a demigod? Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but just then, their head of House, Professor Flitwick, came running into the room.

"What are you two doing up here?" squeaked the tiny man, "the memorial is in the Great Hall. Get downstairs immediately!"

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><p><strong>Yay! Luna is awesome!<strong>

**HP Fact: The name "Dumbledore" comes from the old English word for Bumblebee. J.K. Rowling said that she named him this, because she imagined Dumbledore humming around his office a lot.**

**Random Fact: Until recently, nobody knew what color dinosaurs were. But recent advances in technology have made it possible to look at the melanin pigments in fossilized feather (yeah, feathers, not scales. So only feathered dinosaurs) and were able to make educated guesses about what they might have looked like. Most believe that there were many reds and purples, and blues and greens are also likely.**

**Please review!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Killerpizza504: If you look, green is actually one of the possible colors! :)**

**Chick_With_The_Purple_Guitar: Don't worry, I changed it, thanks for letting me know!**

**A Sky Full Of Lighters: Like many things in this story, Luna is not what she seems. It could just be Annabeth feeling lonely, or a more likely possibility is that Luna had SOME half-blood ancestors, but is not really one herself. Mind you, the gods haven't been in England for centuries!**

**Meagan Snow: You find out in this chapter.**

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to update. I have recently developed a random obsession with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I actually wrote a fanfiction about Mike Teavee (it's called Game Over for anybody who is interested). I've also been working on a series of Harry Potter one-shots. But don't worry, this story is not being abandoned, and is far from over! Now, here the part you have all been waiting for: chapter 34! Enjoy!**

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><p>Annabeth did end up giving the paper bird to Vaisey. She charmed it to repeat short phrases like a tape recorder, so it was at least of some use. Still, it seemed stupid and insignificant compared to the chess set.b<p>

The students fell back into the school routine after about three days, convinced that Bode's death was a one-time thing. But on January tenth, they received even more shocking news.

The only one who had shown any sign of expectance of the event was Theodore Nott. Still, even his fellow Slytherins seemed to pay no attention to him, dismissing his odd behavior as another one of his quirks. The only exception was Draco Malfoy, who observed his housemate's nervousness, but pretended not to acknowledge it.

And what was the news exactly, you may ask?

_"Ten Death Eaters, all sentenced to life in Azkaban for assisting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named with his notorious crimes against humanity, have escaped. Among these individuals include Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the most feared witches in modern times. Ministry officials suspect that they had received help from the infamous Sirius Black, a fellow Azkaban inmate and follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named who had indeed escaped the prison over two years ago, in the summer of 1993. . ._" Patil read aloud from the paper as all of the other Ravenclaws leaned in to hear more of what happened. There was not a single student at the Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff tables that did not appear utterly terrified. Even the majority of the Slytherins looked uncomfortable, no matter how much they tried to hide it.

Annabeth noticed that Seamus Finnigan seemed particularly troubled. He kept glancing over at Potter and his friends, quickly looking away whenever they turned to him.

At the Slytherin table, Aleron Vaisey looked white as a sheet. For a minute, Annabeth wondered if he was going to cry. And while he did not let out so much as a whimper, anyone who had paid the slightest bit of attention to him would have noticed that the young boy looked pale enough to faint.

"He was right," Goldstein breathed, seemingly talking to himself.

"What's going to happen now?" Annabeth whispered to Anthony. "And who was right?"

"Potter said something like this was going to happen . . . that it wouldn't be long now. That's why he. . ."

"That's why what?" she asked boucing up and down in her, unable to contain her excitement.

The Jewish wizard blushed. "Nothing. Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Annabeth frowned. "Come on, you can tell me. What is it?"

Anthony ran his hand through his hair and touched his ear. "That's not important," he assured her. The young girl opened her mouth to protest, but he interrupted. "Look, I'm going to be honest with you: things are about to go downhill real fast."

"But the Ministry. . .they have to acknowledge that You-Know-Who's back now, don't they?"

"I wish it were that simple. If anything, they're going to be covering it up even more. Like that bit about Black. Nobody's seen him in a year, and even if he DID help them escape, it would have been because You-Know-Who needed more followers."

"Who is Bellatrix Lestrange? What did she do that was so horrible?"

"Um. . . it's really not my place to say. . ."

"_Tell_ me."

Goldstein looked around to make sure that nobody overheard what he said. "I don't know many details, but I'm pretty sure she was the one who tortured the Longbottoms."

Annabeth couldn't help it, she knew it was an inappropriate response, but she could not hold back her laughter. "_Longbottom?_" she repeated.

"It's not funny! Lestrange preformed the Cruciatus Curse on Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. The curse causes terrible pain that makes you feel like you're being ripped in half and skinned alive."

"Has it ever happened to you?"

"What? Oh, Merlin, no! That's just what I've heard. Anyway, the Longbottoms were part of this resistance group that fought You-Know-Who the first time he was at large. Bellatrix captured them and demanded information. The couple had been really young at the time, mind you, in their early twenties with a new baby, but they still resisted. So she tortured them."

"Did they die?"

"No. Someone was able to rescue them, but not before they were driven insane. I think they live in a mental hospital now or something." Anthony's face was somber.

"What. . . what happened to their baby?"

"Look over at the Gryffindor table," he instructed. "See that chubby boy sitting in between Potter and Thomas? That's him. His name is Neville and he's in my year. I think he lives with his grandmother."

Annabeth studied the boy. He had sandy brown hair and large ears. She wondered if he even remembered his family. The poor boy was probably petrified now that his parents' abuser was out of prison. She shuddered and then turned back to her House prefect. "And your parents told you all of this?"

"No," he admitted, "no, they have know idea I know. My uncle worked for that resistance, you see, and he tells me everything. I was informed of the story one night when my parents were out and he was watching me and my little brother. I don't think I slept for weeks."

Annabeth was so shocked that she didn't even bother mentioning that it was physically impossible for a human to survive for more than eleven days without sleep.

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><p><strong>I know it seems a bit far-fetched for Anthony to know so much, but Annabeth needs to gather her information somehow. <strong>

**And because I feel like it, I'm putting two- - eh, what the heck, THREE- - Harry Potter facts:**

**Random HP fact 1: Hermione was originally going to have a little sister, but Rowling couldn't find a good time to put her in.**

**Random HP fact 2: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's motto is "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus", Latin for "Never tickle a sleeping dragon". Hmm. . . good advice!**

**Random HP fact 3: At one time, Daniel Radcliffe actually convinced Rupert Grint that he was a werewolf **

**Random fact: Elephants are one of the only animals that have been known to burry their dead and have death rituals. When a group of elephants passes by a grave of one of their own, they will often stop and mourn. They have also been know to burry other animals, including human poachers who sleep out under the stars!**

**Okay, now I have to get off the computer because my dog is nudging me and wants to play. **

**Please review!**


	35. Chapter 35

**killerpizza504: Thank you!**

**percy jackson or seaweed brain: That would be an interesting idea, but, unfortunately, I have to keep both stories in cannon, so that is not possible.**

**Fennendra: Yeah, she's really more of my brother's dog than anyone else's. Her name is Vanilla and she's a ten-year-old Golden Retriever. I'm sure you'll get a pet eventually, or at least when you move out. Anyway, I'm glad you like the story.**

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><p><em>Dear Chiron,<em>

_Things are going bad, and fast. I think you were right, there is going to be a war. _

_The other day there was a major breakout in Azkaban- - that's the wizard prison. So now there are a bunch of psychotic killers on the loose. As if twisted Professor Umbridge wasn't enough to worry about._

_And there's one more thing, this girl, I think she may be a half-blood, or at least have some godly ancestry. She shows signs of dyslexia and exhibits odd behavior. I hear from other students that she believes in all of these strange creatures that nobody else has seen (monsters?) At first, I thought she was just crazy, but now I think that there may be something more to her story. Further research is required._

"Who's Chiron?" a voice asked.

Annabeth jumped. "Yαμώτο, Harper!" she said, unintentionally cursing in Greek. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

The young boy shrugged. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes, knowing that he caught her doing something that she didn't want anyone to see. He calmly petted a student's pet Kneazle, smirking. "I kind of work here," he said sarcastically. "Remember? I run this pet business."

The Ravenclaw scowled. Was nowhere safe anymore? She couldn't even write a letter in the Room of Requirement.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute, how can you read this?" she demanded, referring to the letter. "It's in Greek."

Harper said, "I know Greek. There's a wizarding community in Athens that my family is close with."

Annabeth threw her hands up into the air, exasperated. "What's next? Scisne latine quoque?"

"Yeah, I speak Latin," he replied haughtily.

_Well, this is just perfect!_ she thought sarcastically. Annabeth wondered if it was even possible to think sarcastically. Yet somehow, she had pulled it off.

"Who's Chiron?" the little Slytherin repeated persistently, now bouncing up and down. He was not going to give up easily.

Annabeth sighed. Was this kid really her age? "None of your business. He's a friend."

"So why are you writing to him in Greek?"

"That's his first language."

Forest raised a suspicious eyebrow. "_Ancient_ Greek?"

"Don't you have cages to change?"

"Nope," he grinned smugly, "Creevey and Wespert have already taken care of that."

"Well then just . . . go away."

Harper said, "Fine, I'll go," he obliged, backing away. "But make no mistake, Chase, I'm always watching. . . always watching. . . always- - OW!" he ran into a wall. Harper stood up, dusted himself off, gathered what was left of his dignity, and left the room.

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><p>On her way to breakfast, Orla Quirkie stopped in her tracks. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" Quirkie complained upon seeing Umbridge's Educational Decree Number Twenty-six.<p>

"What?"

"Look at this rubbish!"

Annabeth squinted, skimming the new rule. Her hands clenched into fists as she swore in Ancient Greek, earning a smirk from Harper. Was there no such thing as privacy anymore? Maybe she could get Rose Zeller to teach her Hebrew, she thought jokingly. She was pretty sure he didn't know that.

"_Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subject they are paid to teach,_" Vaisey read aloud, having been one of the last first-years to reach the bulletin board. "Seriously?" he demanded. "Doesn't that old bat have better things to do than make up pointless rules for us to follow?"

"There hasn't even been a problem with student-teacher interaction, has there?" everybody shook their heads. Annabeth frowned. "Then this rule is completely unjustified! I mean, if it were a growing problem, then I suppose it would only make sense to put restrictions- - but this,_ this_ is just proof that she's looking for privileges to take away from us!" Annabeth looked around. "She's abusing her power. Surely there must be _someone_ we can go to about this."

"The Ministry?" Euan Ambercrombie suggested.

"No, that's stupid," said Baddock. "The problem isn't that major. Besides, she** works** for the Ministry. They were the ones who sent her in the first place. They want her to torture us!"

"You guys are forgetting one thing," said Stewart Ackerly from behind his Charles Dickens book. Everyone jumped. Stewart seldom spoke.

Baddock turned around to glare at him. "And what's that, smarty?"

All of the other first and second-years turned around to face him, interested in what he had to say. Stewart's face turned red as he looked down, suddenly very interested in his trainers. The poor boy was not used to having so much attention focused on him.

After seconds, he cleared his throat. "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Who in this school has more power than Umbridge?"

Nobody knew the answer.

"Dumbledore!" he almost shouted, his arms spreading out for emphasis. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, he accidentally hit Jimmy Peakes in the stomach with _Oliver Twist_. "Um . . . sorry. Anyway, the headmaster had more power than the High Inquisitor any day."

The other students paused, having not considered this. Stewart absentmindedly returned to his book.

Annabeth was the first to speak. "It could work," she said slowly, "but surely he must have noticed that there's something off about her by now, and he hasn't done anything, has he?"

There was another pause as the other children took that into consideration.

"It's still worth a try," Dennis Creevey said, but he sounded somewhat doubtful. "You could tell him Annabeth."

"What?"

"Yeah," Rose agreed enthusiastically, "you have more _chutzpah_ than anyone I know!" she pronounced the word by making a sound in the back of her throat, almost like spitting.

"Me? You want me to represent the entire student body?"

They nodded.

"Um . . . okay," she said uncertainly.

"Great! There he is right now!" someone said, pointing down the corridor. Sure enough, the figure of the headmaster came into focus. "Go talk to him!"

"Now?"

"Yeah!" Peakes gave her an awkward shove towards the old man.

Annabeth groaned. They were going to eat her alive if she didn't get this done. Now she had to convince the principal that one of the teachers he had hired was a crazed tyrant on her way to becoming a female Hitler (or Grindelwald, in the wizard world).

And the worst part was, she hadn't even eaten breakfast yet!

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><p><strong>Harry Potter Fact: When J. K. Rowling took a sorting hat quiz online, she got into Hufflepuff.<strong>

**Random Fact: The telephone number for Antarctica is 672**

**Please review! (Hey, that rhymes!)**


	36. Chapter 36

**killerpizza504: Thank you!**

**A Sky Full Of Lighters: Great, glad you liked it!**

**Earthling123: There is no official name for baby monotremes, but animal_planet_.com and zooborns both call them puggles. Hmm . . . platypup, huh? I kind of like the sound of that. Also, the phobia of clowns isn't that rare. Lots of people have it, including Johnny Depp and Daniel Radcliffe himself! Anyway, I'm glad you liked the story, and thank you for your list of phobias.**

**Pjo_Hp._Spells_and_words: I know, isn't it?**

**miller123456789: Hmm . . . it's hard to tell from writing alone. Lots of people would surprised that I'm thirteen. As for you, I'm going to play it safe and guess fourteen or fifteen. Please don't be offended if I get it wrong.**

**I know, this is a really quick update, but I've had a lot of free time lately, so here it is!**

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><p>Annabeth was trapped. She couldn't back down now, it would make look like a coward. So she held her head up, and made her way over to the ancient headmaster. It was then she remembered that the man knew about half-bloods, this relaxed her a bit.<p>

"Um . . . hey, Professor," Annabeth said somewhat awkwardly. She was feeling unusually shy.

He turned around to face her. "Yes?"

"Erm . . . I don't exactly know how to say this. . ." she began to shuffle her feet. Annabeth turned around to look at the other kids for guidance, they were all watching her expectantly. Aleron gave her a weak thumbs-up.

Dumbledore seemed to notice the group of students as well. "Perhaps it would be more prudent if we spoke in my office?" he half-asked, half-suggested.

Annabeth said, "Oh no, Sir. This won't take long. I just need to deliver a quick message. Besides," she added, "Breakfast is almost over and I have charms after."

Dumbledore looked confused. "It's Sunday."

"I know, I have a tutoring session in the library with Seamus Finnigan."

"I'm sure Mr. Finnigan won't mind waiting a couple of minutes. From the sound of it, this message is urgent."

Once again, Annabeth began to shuffle her feet. The soles squeaked loudly on the floor. "It is," she agreed. Sighing, she surrendered, "Alright, lead the way."

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><p>"Lemon drop?" the old man offered, once they were comfortably seated in his office.<p>

"No thank you," said Chase. She glanced around the room in wonder. Annabeth had never been inside of Dumbledore's office per say, although she had heard about it from some of the other children.

She was blown away by the magnificent study. It was spacious, for one, still Dumbledore managed to fill up almost every bit of room. There shelves upon shelves of books, cauldrons, boxes, and other mysterious items. On a perch by the desk, was a large, red bird. It had large talons, like a hawk, with a curved beak, implying that it was a bird of prey. There was also something about the animal's eyes, they held some sort of intense look that seemed almost human.

"What kind of bird is that?" she asked curiously.

Dumbledore's blue eyes sparkled with pride."That's a Phoenix, Miss Chase. They are one of the rarest and most wonderful creatures to ever live on this earth."

"I'll bet," Annabeth agreed, watching the bird with great interest as it preened its feathers. "Phoenixes are fire birds, right?"

"Correct. They burst into flames when it is time for them to die, and then are- -"

"Reborn from the ashes," she finished. Annabeth paused, ashamed at having interrupted a teacher. "I'm sorry, Professor."

Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly. "That's quite alright. Anyway, you said you had a message to convey?"

"Yes. Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. I've noticed that the students, not just in my grade, but overall, it seems that they are having trouble with one of the teachers. I think you know which one."

He sighed. "Yes. Umbridge would not have been my first choice as a professor at this school, but the Ministry elected her, and we have to respect their- -"

"With all due respect, Professor. I think that Umbridge has crossed the line. She is not merely abusing her powers, but she is physically injuring the students. Just the other night, my roommate, Emma Dobbs, came back from a detention bleeding," the more Annabeth spoke, the more her confidence rose. She wasn't doing anything wrong. She was reporting inappropriate behavior. She couldn't get in trouble for that, could she?

Annabeth then proceeded to list all of the rules and regulations Umbridge had violated. She spoke for about twenty minutes straight. The entire time, Dumbedore did not say a word or interrupt her rant in any way whatsoever. He could occasionally nod and mummer a "mm-hm", but that was it.

When she was done, Annabeth eyed the aged school headmaster expectantly. Surely he would see her valid points about the situation. . .

"I understand your concerns," Dumbledore said, whilst sucking on a lemon drop, "but, unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done at the present time - -"

Now Annabeth was angry. "Did you not just hear a word I said?" she demanded. "She's breaking the law, and you're just going to stand by and not do anything? Πώς θα μπορούσατε να είστε ένας τέτοιος ηλίθιος?*"

"Now, now," Dumbledore said calmly, not at all phased by the student's explosion or disrespect. "There is no need to call people names."

Annabeth paused. This was really unfair. Did everybody in this school speak Greek? _No,_ she reminded herself._ The Weasley twins didn't. _She sighed. "I apologize for that," she muttered. "But, really, what do you mean there is nothing you can do? You're the headmaster! You have power over her!"

"You must learn to listen. I did not say there was nothing I could do, I said that there was nothing I could do at the _present time_. There is a difference you know."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" she demanded, one again, losing her cool. Annabeth was tired of the old man's cryptic answers. Why couldn't he be straight forward for once?

"All in good time," he answered, answering nothing. "Now, I believe Mr. Finnigan is waiting for you in the library."

Annabeth huffed. So much for getting an adult to help. She would need to take matters into her own hands.

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><p>That night Annabeth stayed up late, working on decoding Nott's parchment. She had finished a significant amount, but felt as if she were missing a vital piece of information.<p>

By eleven, the only ones that remained in the Common Room were Goldstein and Patil, whom were playing wizard chess in the corner, Ackerly who was reading Moby Dick in an armchair, and Luna Lovegood, who was staring into blank space. Annabeth ceased the chance.

"Hey, Luna."

"Hi."

There was a pause. " . . . Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Well. . . I was just wondering. What do your parents do for a living?"

Luna grinned. "Daddy's a writer, the author and editor of The Quibbler, perhaps you've heard of it?"

Annabeth shook her head, and Luna looked slightly disappointed. "Maybe you could show it to me sometime?"

Luna began going through the papers on the side table. "I have it here somewhere . . ."

"That's okay. What does your mom do?" Luna giggled. "What?"

"Nothing. I just love the way Americans say mum." Then her eyes grew somewhat sad. "My mum was an inventor," she said expressionlessly.

The noisy Ravenclaw couldn't help but press the subject. "_Was?_"

"Yes," the other girl replied mechanically, "she died when I was nine."

"Oh. I'm sorry." What else could one say to that? Annabeth, suddenly feeling somewhat guilty, decided that was enough probing for one night. "Good night, Luna," Annabeth said, as she made her way up the spiral staircase and into her dorm.

* * *

><p><strong>*Translation: How could you be such an idiot?<strong>

**HP fact: Rowena Ravenclaw dreamed of a warty hog that led her to a cliff by a lake. That's how Hogwarts got its name and location.**

**Random Fact: Out of fifty films, the only Disney movies to date where neither parents of the protagonist die are Tangled, Peter Pan, and 101 Dalmatians. **


	37. Chapter 37

***Hangs head in shame* Yes, I know it's been a while. I just finished middle school, and am taking summer school is summer so that I get an extra free period during the year. So . . . sorry about that. I'll try to update as frequently as I can, though. **

**Anyway, a big thank you to miller123456789 and killer_pizza504 for the reviews!**

**Also, to lovin_luna: I never said it was a bad thing, in fact, most of the time, I use weird as a compliment. Plus, this is just what Annabeth thinks of her, I don't necessarily agree.**

* * *

><p>Ackerly sat at the end of the breakfast table. He stared, wide-eyed, at the book he held in his hands.<p>

Annabeth approached him.

"Good book?" she inquired. He nodded vigorously. "Can I see it?" Stewart held up on hand to indicate that he would give it to her in a minute. When he finished the chapter, he handed it to her. "A Clockwork Orange," she read the title. "I think a kid in my bunk at camp had to read this for college. Isn't it, like, really violent?"

Stewart shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes. "It is not for the weak-minded," he stated plainly.

"Are you suggesting I'm weak-minded?"

"No. I am merely answering your question."

"Humph."

Ackerly returned to his book as if Annabeth were never there.

Sometimes Annabeth imagined what it would be like to be able to read whatever you wanted. Books were often hard to get in Greek, and would have to be shipped from abroad. Seeing kids like Ackerly, spending hours on end eating their way through novel after novel, made her wonder what she was missing out on.

"Young man," a voice said. Annabeth snapped out of her daydream and saw Professor Umbridge standing over Stewart Ackerly. The poor boy was shaking from head to toe. "Didn't we agree no more books at the breakfast table?"

"Technically, it was no more books at the dinner table. And I never agreed to it," he said quietly.

The toad-lady glowered at him. "What was that?" she demanded. Ackerly said nothing, but his bottom lip quivered. Umbridge noticed this, and smiled. "And what's this you got here?" she asked, snatching the book from the boy's hands. She surveyed it through her chubby fingers. "A Clockwork Orange? What's this about?"

"A-a controversial method of s-stopping criminals, Ma'am. It's not for the faint-hearted, for it has some rather graphic scenes. I would recommend Lewis Carroll or Roald Dahl for you. I think I have some of his books upstairs. . ."

"You think I don't have the stomach for it, boy? Well, I think you would surprised at what I can handle," and with that, she walked away, book in hand.

Stewart grinned broadly, which confused Annabeth. "What are you so happy about?" she demanded. "She took your book away."

Ackerly shook his head, still smiling like an idiot. "I knew this would happen. The old toad wouldn't be able to resist my mocking. One look at that book will be sure to scar her for life - -"

"OR give her new ideas for torturing students."

* * *

><p>The same grin materialized on Ackerly's face in Defense Against the Dark Arts class the next day. Annabeth followed his gaze onto Umbridge.<p>

The professor appeared rather distracted during their lesson. There were large circles under her eyes and she kept glancing over her shoulder nervously. Few of the other students seemed to notice, seeing as they were all half-asleep to begin with.

Chase turned back to her neighbor to congratulate his brilliance, but Ackerly was already immersed in his next novel.

* * *

><p>It was around mid-February when things took another interesting turn. Nigel and Dennis came running up to Annabeth that morning. The two looked excited enough to wet their pants.<p>

"We've found it!" they declared proudly.

"Found what?"

"The spell! We got Granger to give it to us."

It took Annabeth a moment to realize what they were talking about. "Really? That's great! How did you find it?"

"It was all my doing, really," said Nigel, earning a kick in the shin from Dennis. "I convinced Granger that I wanted to learn more complex spells. And low and behold, she began going through her notebook going through spell after spell - -"

"She also has a picture of Weasley in there!" added Dennis, smirking.

Ignoring the last part, she replied. "Good work, Dennis."

"Good enough for a promotion?" he asked hopefully.

"We'll see."

* * *

><p>"Okay, this is the last straw! I am not going to stand any more of your absurd antics, Nott!"<p>

"Malfoy, here's a thought. Why don't you mind your own business for a change?" asked Blaise, walking in on the conversation.

"Shut up, Zabini! And don't think you're off the hook either. I saw what you did!"

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Oh joy. What did I do this time?"

"What did you do? You SNOGED A BLOODY GRYFFINDOR!"

"Frobisher? She's rich, pretty, and pureblooded. Why do you care?"

"Oh, I don't know . . . because she's a GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, you may want to stay out of Zabini's love life," Nott suggested, "people will start to get ideas . . ."

"I'm surprised you would even dare to show your face at this point, Theodore," Malfoy said, sticking his nose in the air. "You are disgrace to the wizarding world. You as well, Zabini. And I refuse to talk to either of you ever again."

"Sounds good to me," mumbled Blaise.

Draco glared at the other boy before exiting the room.

Zabini rolled his eyes in Malfoy's direction. Once he was sure the other boy was gone, he flung himself onto the sofa, putting his feet up on the table. Nott looked at him in disgust, which he promptly ignored.

"So," Theodore said casually, glancing at the corner of the room. "The trampoline's gone?"

"Yeah. One of the seventh-years claimed it was 'disrupting their studying' and ratted it out to Umbridge. She made Professor Snape get rid of it this morning. Serves the bastards right, putting up a bloody contraption like that in our working space. . ."

"I seem to remember you had a fine time with the 'bloody contraption' last night when you were bouncing on it for three hours."

Zabini cringed. "Okay," he said, "let me make one thing clear: I was not bouncing on it for fun. My foot had fallen asleep and I was attempting to get the feeling back in it."

"Sure you were."

"So, what were you doing that got Malfoy so worked up, anyway?" Nott held up the novel he was reading for the other boy to see. ". . . The Iliad. . . so?"

"It's a muggle book. Well, sort of."

"Have you lost your mind? What are you reading a muggle book for?"

Nott shrugged. "It's pretty interesting," he said.

"Don't you care that someone might see you with that. . . that _thing?_" No wonder Malfoy was angry. Was he mental?

"Nope," he replied, casually turning the page. "By tomorrow, I'll have bigger things to worry about."

"What do you mean?"

"Potter ratted my Dad out to the _Quibbler._"

* * *

><p><strong>In honor of me graduating eighth grade, there are FOUR Harry Potter facts, and FOUR unrelated facts! (Get it, <em>eight?<em>):**

**HP fact 1: Robert Patterson has openly stated that he would rather play Cedric Diggory than Edward Cullen.**

**HP Fact 2: The last word we hear Lily and Snape say is "always".**

**HP fact 3: After the horcrux inside of him was killed, Harry could no longer speak Parsel Tongue. The language in of itself is rather odd, seeing as snakes don't have ears and can't hear.**

**HP fact 4: When J.K. Rowling took a Sorting Hat Quiz, she got into Hufflepuff.**

**Random fact 1: About ten percent of the world's population is left-handed. Less than one percent is ambidextrous.**

**Random fact 2: If you spent a dollar every second, it would take thirty-two years to spend a billion dollars!**

**Random fact 3: The Dead Sea is seven time saltier than the ocean. Nothing can live there except microscopic organisms.**

**Random fact 4: Yak milk is pink.**

**Please review!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Apparently, in summer school, every day is a week. The class is on Western Civilization, which I love, don't get me wrong, but I have to listen to five hours of it a day, with an additional four to seven hours of homework. Great way to spend the summer! Still, I promised myself that I would get this chapter up by the fourth of July, and I kept my promise. **

**Happy early fourth of July to everyone in the states and happy Wednesday to . . . roughly ninety-five percent of the world's population.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It was around mid-February when things took an interesting turn. Nigel and Dennis came running up to Annabeth that morning. The two looked excited enough to wet their pants.<p>

"We've found it!" they declared proudly.

"Found what?"

"The spell! We got Granger to give it to us."

It took Annabeth a moment to realize what they were talking about. "Really? That's great! How did you find it?"

"It was all my doing, really," said Nigel, earning a kick in the shin from Dennis. "I convinced Granger that I wanted to learn more complex spells. And low and behold, she began going through her notebook going through spell after spell - -"

"She also has a picture of Weasley in there!" added Dennis, smirking.

Ignoring the last part, she replied. "Good work, Dennis."

"Good enough for a promotion?" he asked hopefully.

"We'll see."

* * *

><p>"Okay, this is the last straw! I am not going to stand any more of your absurd antics, Nott!"<p>

"Malfoy, here's a thought. Why don't you mind your own business for a change?" asked Blaise, walking in on the conversation.

"Shut up, Zabini! And don't think you're off the hook either. I saw what you did!"

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Oh joy. What did I do this time?"

"What did you do? You SNOGED A BLOODY GRYFFINDOR!"

"Frobisher? She's rich, pretty, and pureblooded. Why do you care?"

"Oh, I don't know . . . because she's a GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, you may want to stay out of Zabini's love life," Nott suggested, "people will start to get ideas . . ."

"I'm surprised you would even dare to show your face at this point, Theodore," Malfoy said, sticking his nose in the air. "You are disgrace to the wizarding world. You as well, Zabini. And I refuse to talk to either of you ever again."

"Sounds good to me," mumbled Blaise.

Draco glared at the other boy before exiting the room.

Zabini rolled his eyes in Malfoy's direction. Once he was sure the other boy was gone, he flung himself onto the sofa, putting his feet up on the table. Nott looked at him in disgust, which he promptly ignored.

"So," Theodore said casually, glancing at the corner of the room. "The trampoline's gone?"

"Yeah. One of the seventh-years claimed it was 'disrupting their studying' and ratted it out to Umbridge. She made Professor Snape get rid of it this morning. Serves the bastards right, putting up a bloody contraption like that in our working space. . ."

"I seem to remember you had a fine time with the 'bloody contraption' last night when you were bouncing on it for three hours."

Zabini cringed. "Okay," he said, "let me make one thing clear: I was not bouncing on it for fun. My foot had fallen asleep and I was attempting to get the feeling back in it."

"Sure you were."

"So, what were you doing that got Malfoy so worked up, anyway?"

Nott held up the novel he was reading.

"The Iliad," the other boy read aloud. "Okay . . . what's the problem with that?"

"Malfoy, being the _lovely_ person that he is, decided that whatever I did was his business. This book that I happen to be reading is a muggle book. In Draco's head, this makes me a traitor, for he simply cannot understand why I would ever do such a thing."

"Well why are you doing it?"

"THAT is none of your concern, now is it, Mr. Zabini?"

". . . I guess not," was the other boy's reply, being smart enough not to argue with Theodore. He turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

". . . The library."

"Perfect," he took out an envelope from his pocket. "Deliver this to Miss Chase, will you? Don't bother reading it. It's not in English and it has a curse attached to it for anyone who isn't Chase who reads it."

"Um . . . sure. What's it for?" he was met with a dark look. Suddenly, he felt indignant. Why should he allow himself to be pushed around by this boy? "Why can't you deliver it yourself? You have two legs that aren't broken!"

For a mere moment, something changed about Nott's expression. The stoical, calm boy was gone. For a moment, he looked upset, even ashamed. Ashamed? What would Nott have to be ashamed about? It was then Zabini had his epiphany. "Oh," he said, somewhat thickly. "Don't worry about them. They're just kids, what do they know?"

"It's not them I'm worried about. It's Malfoy. He wants to pretend he's proud of it. He wants to take his goons and put on a show about how wonderful it is what his father is doing! That his father is a DEATH EATER!" Nott was surprised to find himself actually screaming towards the end of his mini-rant.

Uh-oh. Nott was becoming the last thing Zabini would expect of him: emotional. Blaise knew what was coming next, he had had his share of girlfriends after all, and was not in the mood to listen to a sob story. So he did what he always did around a time like this: he bolted. "I think Tracy's calling me. WHAT'S THAT, DAVIS? YOUR CAT SWALLOWED _WHAT_? Gotta go. Sorry, Nott."

That left Theodore alone with the letter.

* * *

><p>"You're late," Annabeth announced as Seamus Finnigan walked into the library. She did not even look up from her book to know who it was. She could tell by his clumsy footsteps. "<em>Again,<em>" the girl added for emphasis.

"Sorry," the Irish boy mumbled, taking his seat across from her. " . . . So," he said after a slightly awkward pause. "What do we have today?"

"**I** already finished my work while** you** were off with your friends."

"Sorry," he said again, this time sounding a little more sincere and even somewhat embarrassed, although he tried not to show it. "I was just . . . the time got away from me," it was odd, but he was a bit intimidated by the little girl's appearance. No, not quite intimidated. Disgruntled, perhaps.

"Look," said Annabeth, "I'm glad that you made up with your friends. But you are not getting school credit to hang out with them, and this is the third time you were late this week." _Wow,_ Annabeth mused silently,_ I sound like a teacher._

Seamus seemed to notice this too. "Yes, Professor Chase," he replied. There was another pause. " . . . So, um, if you're finished then I guess we can call it a night." He stood up to leave.

"Wait," said Annabeth. "Can we . . . talk for a bit? Not about school."

"Um . . . sure, I guess." Finnigan returned to his seat. "What do you want to talk about?"

"What happened in_ The Quibbler_? Everybody's talking about it and I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy. Banned things are always popular."

"Well, Potter was interviewed by the infamous reporter, Rita Skeeter, a real ***** by the way - - sorry, but she is - - anyway, Harry gave her a detailed story of his encounter with You-Know-Who last year. You know about that, right?" She nodded. "And he gave her the names of the Death Eaters, which is a big deal for the Ministry which is trying to cover everything up."

"But I thought you said - -"

"I was . . . wrong."

"So that's why everyone was attacking Nott . . . " she mused. "His father is a Death Eater!"

"I thought you didn't read the article."

"I haven't. Vaisey told me."

"You're still friends with that bloody Slytherin?" Seamus shook his head. "No comment."

"Technically, no comment _is_ a comment."

"No comment."

"Chase!" said a voice. It was Theodore Nott.

"Speaking of the devil," Seamus muttered. "What do you want, Nott?"

Theodore promptly ignored him and continued his conversation. "Here," he gave Annabeth the note. "It'll explain everything. Meet me at the place tomorrow night."

"Look, it's him!" shouted a second-year Gryffindor girl.

"It's the boy whose father is a Death Eater!" said her friend.

"Let's get him!"

"Gotta go, Chase. Remember: tomorrow night. Don't forget."

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh, what does Nott want? Can any of you guess? <strong>

**HP Fact: Rupert Grint owns an ice cream van, but cannot legally sell to the public because he "didn't feel like doing the paper work".**

**Random Fact: Israel is the only country in the world that had more trees at the end of the twentieth century than at the beginning. **

**Please review!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Oops, I forgot to reply to my reviews in the last chapter!**

**lovin_Lovegood: It's Annabeth's opinion, not necessarily mine. Besides, who ever said weird was bad? **

**catz r the all time best: Hey, I'm a leftie, too! *High five***

**killer_pizza_504: I'm honestly a little scared to.**

**hunter of artemis 73: Thanks, congrats to you too! **

**miller123456789: Goof question. I'm pretty sure it's because of something they have in their pigment. Hippos also have red sweat, people used to think it was blood, but it's really this type of acid that acts like sunscreen. I think it somehow get into the milk, making it pink. **

**killer_pizza_504 (again): Wow, has it really been that long since I updated? Anyway, the fireworks were great in my area, and a happy belated fourth!**

**Emmagination: Pretty soon.**

**Steven3270: Thanks! It's the one place I can do it without it being dubbed "socially inappropriate".**

**Earthling123: You'll find out in this chapter.**

**Lacy Brown-Love: Sorry about that. My newels stories usually have longer chapters. Here, I try to keep a 1,000 minimum, I'll try to make them a bit longer if you want.**

**Hayley Granger: Yay, candy!**

**Sorry for the long wait. My family has been doing a lot of stuff this summer, and I haven't had a lot of time. Plus, I have two new fanfics that I'm currently working on in addition to this one. I want to thank everybody for their patience who has stuck with the story this far, it is greatly appreciated.**

* * *

><p>"I said I was sorry a billion times! What more do you want?"<p>

"I don't care if you apologize a million times, you are NOT getting away so easily!"

Annabeth ducked, narrowly missing an arrow that flew past her ear as she ran for her dear life. Her pursuer? A small boy who looked no older than eight or nine years old, riding on a dolphin, wearing nothing but a diaper.

. . . Come to think of it, it was more strange than frightening. Or at least it would be if she did not know that the boy on the dolphin was in fact thousands of years old and the god of desire. Eros, the Greek version of Cupid. Although technically the Greeks were first, so Cupid was a Roman version of Eros. Whatever. Either way, she was being chased by the god of desire, and he was not happy.

"You shall repent, Chase! Grovel before me, and beg for mercy. I may take pity upon you!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. _Didn't Eros have better things to do with his time than chase after little girls who sacrificed the wrong kind of doughnut in their Valentine's Day offering? _

"Grovel, I say!"

Apparently not.

"I'm sorry, Eros. Next time I will give you a jelly filled one."

There was a pause as the god seemed to consider her request. "With sprinkles?"

_What?_ Annabeth was pretty sure that the gods didn't even eat their sacrifices. In fact, most people didn't even sacrifice to minor gods** period**. But Eros had started a tradition of making all of the half-bloods giving him an offering on Valentine's Day.

Still, she didn't want to upset him. "Sure," she said.

This seemed to satisfy Eros, who nodded and bid her farewell, riding off on his dolphin into the distance.

Then Orla Quirkie woke her up for breakfast.

* * *

><p>During breakfast a group of Gryffindors crowded around the Slytherin table, taunting Nott and Malfoy with insults. Malfoy responded by shouting at all of them and threatening their families, while Nott just rolled his eyes before eventually getting up, and retiring to his dorm until first period.<p>

The teachers all glanced at each other at the staff table as if debating whether they should interfere. Even Snape seemed reluctant to get involved.

Annabeth clenched her hands into fists. She couldn't believe the injustice that was happening here. It was disgusting!

She tried to meet Nott's eyes to see if she was upset. Even after a good three minute stare down she could not tell if he was or not. Theodore simply pointed at his watch and mouthed the word "tonight". Yeah, as if she could forget.

* * *

><p>"Okay, I'm here. What do you want?"<p>

Nott was sitting in large armchair in the Room of Requirement, no doubt of his own doing. There was a couch across from him. Gently pushing aside a Persian cat, Annabeth seated herself as well.

"First of all, happy birthday."

"What? Oh, um, thank you." How did he - -

"I heard Vaisey training his paper bird to sing to you. Anyway, I have a question."

"Go on."

"Do you . . . do you ever get the feeling that you know something is going to happen? Like . . . something really bad. And I don't mean a hunch, I mean, like, actually knowing for sure."

Annabeth squirmed a bit in her seat and hesitated before answering. "No. I know nothing of the sort."

There was no doubt in Nott's mind that she was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. "Chase, I really need to know. This is extremely important."

For the second time that day, Annabeth met Theodore's eyes. They were wide with anxiety, and perhaps a bit of fear. This surprised her. It never occurred to Annabeth that fear was an emotion that Nott was capable of possessing at all.

"You don't believe me," he said dismally. It was a statement, not a question. "Look . . . I'll-I'll prove it. Something is going to happen on June 16, I don't know what yet, but it's going to get Potter really upset. And . . . and Umbridge is going to sack Trelawney - - although it doesn't exactly take an oracle to see that coming. . . . Oracle. Wait a minute, an oracle! Chase, tell me, can oracle traits be passed down?" Annabeth shrugged. "Chase, listen to me," there was an odd edge to his voice, he almost sounded desperate. "This is really important."

"I honestly don't know much about oracles. I just know that they are usually girls. There have been exceptions, but for the most part it seems that the trait appears in females. I've never heard of it happening in a boy. Do you ever have blackouts, and people say that you're eyes were glowing or something?"

". . . How did you know?"

"Oh my gods," she breathed, "but this hasn't happened in centuries . . . maybe eons, how could . . . ?"

"Hey, what are you guys . . . " Laura Madley stopped in her tracks, staring at Nott with her mouth agape. "Wh-what are y-yo-you doing here?" she demanded. She looked pale, as if she was about to faint.

"Madley, it's okay," Annabeth tried to reassure the girl.

"You've been conversing with the enemy!" she accused. "I'm telling Branstone! Oh, and I **quit**!"

"Laura, don't you trust me?"

"I _thought_ I could, but now . . ."

"Then why don't you trust I have a reason for doing this?" She doubted the reasoning would work, but it was a desperate plea.

Laura did not buy it. "Don't you know who he is? Don't you know_ what_ he is?" she pointed at Nott. "If you want to converse with Death Eaters, then leave me out of it." And with that, she promptly left the room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Chiron,<em>

_Things have taken a turn for the worst, although I have found out some interesting information about Theodore Nott. Not only was his mother in possession of an oracle, but I think he is, too. I did some research on the Lovegood girl, and I doubt she's a halfblood, although she probably has some godly ancestry. Anyway, what do you suggest I do about Theodore?_

_As for the war, tensions are high. Prisoners have escaped from their cells, people are turning on each other, and nobody knows who to trust. Nott says his father mentioned a prophecy of some sort, but refused to say more. I think it involves Potter, everything seems to in one way or another. Maybe I should speak to the boy directly, or one of his friends. What do you suggest? _

_Give Luke and the others my regards,_

_Annabeth _

No sooner had Annabeth put down her quill then she met by one of the older girls of Ravenclaw who she recognized as MacDougal. "There you are!" MacDougal said, running up to Annabeth. "Umbridge has been looking for you. She wants you to report to her office immediately." She sounded nervous.

"Is it bad?"

There was a pause. "She didn't say."

"Alright, let me just mail this letter."

"No!" now she definitely sounded nervous. "You can do that afterwards, just go now."

Something was definitely going on. "Fine. I'll go."

As she began to exit the Common Room, Michael Corner whispered, "What kind of flowers do you want on your coffin?"

The scary thing was, Annabeth wasn't even sure if he was joking or not.

* * *

><p><strong>Random fact: Charles Dickens had a pet raven named Grip. He also hated the game cricket.<strong>

**Harry Potter fact: Merlin was in Slytherin.**

**Please review!**


	40. Chapter 40

**JGS39: I agree completely. I tried to show a more sympathetic side to the House in this fic with characters such as Vaisey, Nott, and even Harper.**

**hAdes_Lyth_Erin_Madrigal_X, Emmagination, will_the_ranger, and Guest: Thank you, I'm glad you guys like it!**

**Electric Storm Surge: Yeah, it would have been funny.**

**Yes, I'm still alive. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"Professor?"<p>

"Ah, yes. Annabeth, is it? Come in, please, come in."

Umbridge appeared to be in an oddly good mood. Annabeth did not trust it for a minute. The professor gestured to an empty seat across from her, which the Ravenclaw reluctantly took. If she was offered a seat, then that meant Umbridge expected her to stay.

"How are your classes, Miss Chase?"

"Fine, thank you." Annabeth squirmed slightly in her seat. Every instinct in her body was telling her to get the hell out of there.

"Tea?" the toad woman offered.

Annabeth shook her head a little too vigorously. "N-no thanks. I'm good."

"Are you alright, dear?"

"Fine."

But Umbridge was no fool. And Annabeth could swear that the toad woman's eyes were laughing at her. "I noticed something rather odd in your letters -"

"You've been READING MY MAIL?!" Annabeth practically exploded out of her seat. "You can't do that! That's an invasion of my privacy! That's- that's -"

"As High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, it is perfectly within my power to check student mail to ensure their own safety," she said cooly. "But it seems that your notes are encrypted in some sort of code. You thought that you could outsmart me, did you, dear?"

Chase's cheeks suddenly felt very warm. She was on the edge of panic, practically pleading with the professor. "It's not like that. The letters aren't in a secret code, they're just in Greek. I only write in it because it's my friend's first language. You can ask Professor Dumbledore, he knows! I swear to the gods-to god!"

"That's what I thought, but just to be sure, I decided to be sure. You can never be too safe, now can you, dear? That is why I asked an old friend of mine to help me out. He specializes in foreign writing, and immediately identified your writing as Ancient Greek - now, why would your friend write in a dialect that hasn't been spoken in thousands of years? I decided to have him read it out loud to us today. Won't that be fun, dear?"

Annabeth gulped, but forced herself to nod.

"Oh, Severus. Would you come here for a moment." Professor Snape entered the woman's office with a look that appeared just as, if not more digested by the decor than Annabeth.

"Yes, Delores?"

"Would you do me a favor and read these notes to us. I believe you took ancient runes as a student, correct?"

"Yes, it was mandatory in my fifth year."

"Good, now do read," she gave him the letters.

Annabeth held her breath as the potions teachers examined the notes, his face never even showing a flicker of expression. When he was the done, the man said, "I do not see anything of interest here, Professor. She is merely speaks of childish things and her classes. Why is this of importance?"

She exhaled, but Umbridge still did not seem quite satisfied. "Are you sure, Professor?"

"Quite. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a class to teach at the moment." Annabeth kept trying to get a look at the man's face, but he never so much as glanced in the girl's direction.

"Very well," she said, after the potions master had left, "but I will be getting a second opinion on this," she waved the notes in front of Chase's face. "Now, off with you!"

* * *

><p>"What?!"<p>

"You heard me, they're all gone," Aleron said grimly. He looked down at the floor of the Room of Requirement and kicked a squeaky toy against the wall. "The news is spreading fast, too. People want their pets back."

"And we're going to_ listen_ to them?"

"There's nothing else we can do. Now that the word's out on Annabeth and Nott, nobody will trust our business. This is it, Harper. We're through."

Forrest glanced forlornly at a small kneazle-mix, playing with a ball of yarn. Although he wouldn't dare admit it, Harper was sort of going to miss the animals. They offered good company, even if they couldn't talk, and there was something rewarding about caring for them. Quickly he shook his head. No. He could not afford to get sentimental now of all times. He was a businessman. A strategist. A Slytherin. So instead, he merely nodded, careful to keep his face clear of any and all emotion. "What about your dog?" he asked.

"Canis will still remain here." Aleron said, nodding at the Crup as he chewed up a rug. "Annabeth has a good training plan in mind for him."

"Oh. Well, um, if he's still here, you know, I might as well come and visit every now and then, just to, you know, make sure you know what you're doing and stuff." He couldn't help but wonder what Madame MacHale would have to say about his grammar in what must have been the world's longest run-on sentence.

Vaisey smirked, raising his eyebrows at the other boy, doing everything in his power not to laugh. "_Sure_," he said, speaking in a slow, sing-song voice. He didn't need to say anything more; the look in Vaisey's eyes said it all.

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><p>"<em>Grigori Rasputin is a notorious figure in both the magical and non-magical world. He was born in 1869 sand caused trouble until the day he died<em> - - well, that's not biased at all!" huffed Annabeth, as she read aloud from her History of Magic book. She had to learn six chapters in four days for their test, for she had learned absolutely nothing from Mr. Binn's class except about the numerous Goblin Wars.

Seamus shrugged, helping himself to another handful of crisps. "It's true, though," he said. "The man was a downright gonch - - um, I mean, jerk." He stuffed another handful into his mouth and Annabeth cringed at the loud crunching sound.

"Madame Pince is going to murder us! And by us, I mean you. Honestly, of all food to sneak into the library, why did you choose potato chips?"

Seamus did not even bother with his normal crisps vs. chips quibble. He motioned for Annabeth to keep reading instead.

"_Originally from Siberia, he attended Durm . . . Dorm . . . Drumstick._"

"What? Lemme see that!" Seamus scanned over the page. "That say _Durmstrang Institute_. It's another wizard school up north. Nasty place. They teach the Dark Arts, you know - - although, they did have Victor Krum, so I suppose it can't be all bad." He handed her back the book. "Go on."

"_He roomed with Leonid Yakovlev and Freda . . . I mean, Alred - - uh . . . Alfred Sörenson, both of whom described him as a quiet boy who mostly kept to himself. He was said to have ex . . . excelled in Potions, Charms, and the Dark Arts, with a particular keenness to healing spells and hypnosis. Rasputin was expelled from the institute in his third year at age fourteen. Shortly afterwards, he returned to Siberia where he pear . . . er . . . disappeared under the wizard radar for many years. His name came up once again under the Ministry when he began associating with the Russian royal family._ Okay, your turn to read."

"Damn it. Sorry. Fine, give me the book. Alright, blah, blah, blah, Durmstrang, Siberia, Russians. Okay. _Supposedly, he was able to heal the heir, Alexei Romanov, who was often injured and bedridden due to a disease known as Hemophilia, which leads to painful inflammations due to a lack of clotting in the blood. The Romanovs had tried to keep Alexei's condition a secret, because they did not want people to think that the future tsar would be weak."_ Seamus snorted. "A little difficult, seeing as he couldn't walk half the time."

"Stop it," Annabeth said. "Just read what it says."

_"Rasputin could apparently stop Alexei's bleeding fits and pain, which is said to have earned the Tsarina's favor. In reality, Grigori was suspected of using magic on both the Tsarina and young Alexei in an attempt to manipulate them for power." _

"How old was Alexei? At the time, I mean."

"Dunno. Like twelve or something."

Annabeth shivered. She knew about the Russian Revolution. They did school the children at Camp Half-Blood. She knew that Alexei died very young. About Thalia's age.

Chase had not thought about Thalia in a long time. For some reason, it made her feel guilty. The girl had done so much for her, how could she forget?

"Stop," she said. "Can we read tomorrow, please? It's pretty late." He nodded. "Thanks." She packed up her things and left, but not before receiving a deadly glare from Madame Pince.

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><p><strong>Yes, I decided that Rasputin was indeed a wizard. Don't ask me why, it just seemed to fit into my twisted version of reality.<strong>

**Harry Potter Fact: Anne Boleyn was to have been either a witch or a squib. (Yes, I'm a history geek. Don't judge me!)**

**Random Fact: The second Wednesday of October is National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day.**


	41. Chapter 41

**JGS39: So true. I always hated her. As for Snape, you have to understand my little mental cannon: I always imagined that in Ancient Runes, or at least the advanced classes, one of their side things was learning other old languages. Since we never really see the class in the books, it is entirely possible. Congratulations on your new account, by the way (although, I suppose it's not very new as of now.)**

**Annonimous4862: Thank you!**

**cream_the_rabbit_77: Thank you. I apologize for the missing words. I began this story when I was either eleven or twelve and had no patience to proof read. I realize it's not an excuse, but I have (hopefully) improved a lot since then.**

**guest: No, although I have a couple of friends who are.**

**Guest: Haha, so true! Glad you like it.**

**amy_cahill_57: Okay**

**Nico_Chessed_i_Pizza_Angelo: One should take into account the age difference. Had the both been, say, thirteen, I think they could have been great friends.**

**The Silver Lillies: Thank you so much!**

**Don't worry, folks. I'm not dead. I've just been ridiculously busy. I'm actually writing an original story of my own that I hope to get published, so my updating may be a bit slow. Hopefully not THIS slow! The fact that this chapter was roughly twice as long as most of mine in this fix makes me feel a little better. Sorry for the long wait and thank you for your patience.**

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><p>In all of the time Annabeth had known him, she had only seen Luke cry twice. The first time had been when he thought that she had been killed by a cyclops. The other had been the night after his confrontation with his father. Annabeth remembered the scene with vivid clarity.<p>

It had been late night. The only light visible was from the stars and glowing celestial bronze of the demigods' weapons. They were near one of their hideouts alongside a small stream. It'd been Thalia's turn to keep watch, but she was unable to keep her eyes open for more than thirty seconds. Luke had dutifully taken over for her. Annabeth found herself unable to sleep, so the then-seven-year-oldcrawled out of the tent, careful not to wake Thalia, and into the open. There she found a surprising scene: Luke, his back to her, sobbing quietly.

For a while, Annabeth just sat there, dumbfounded. She waiting several minutes until her friend's weeping had reduced to barely audible sniffles.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Do you have a boo-boo?"  
>Luke turned to face her. His eyes were red. "Yeah," he wiped his face with his shirt sleeve. "Yeah, I'm fine. No boo-boos, see?" he held up both his hands and shook them slightly so that it appeared as if they were vibrating. "Jazz hands!" he said with a goofy grin. Annabeth giggled.<p>

"Speaking of boo-boos, how's that ankle treating you?"

Annabeth glanced down at her bandaged foot. Luke's mother had wrapped it up hours before in her house. "Are you upset about your mommy?"

Luke shrugged, immediately knowing what she was referring to. "Yeah. . . I'm sorry you had to see that. I wouldn't have taken you there unless it was an absolute emergency."

"My mommy left me when I was born." she said. "And my stepmom is mean. She made me get rid of Rex and didn't believe me about the spiders. She only likes Matthew and Bobby. Even Daddy doesn't love me anymore. I hate them!" she banged her fist on the dirt in anger. Never before had Annabeth shared her history with anyone.

Luke frowned. "Spiders?"

"I hate spiders."

"Why?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," little Annabeth grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, making it clear that she would not discuss the matter any further.

"Okay, okay. We don't have to talk about it, come here." He beckoned the younger girl with his finger.

Annabeth crawled into her friend's lap, smiling up at him. "Are you gonna do it?" she whispered.

Luke looked at her, confused. "Do what?"

"Are you going to fight the dragon apple monster?"

It took the older boy a moment to understand. "Oh!" Luke laughed. Annabeth liked when her friend laughed. It made him look like a kid. Luke was too serious. "You should smile," she said. "Then you'll be happier."

Luke's grin faded and he looked all stern and grown up once again. "Go to sleep, Annabeth. You'll need your energy for tomorrow."

"But I'm not tired! I want to stay up and fight monsters with you!" she looked up at him with her large, gray saucers.

Luke only sighed, not saying anything. The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of chirping crickets and cicada in the distance. Eventually, she broke the silence. "Thalia thinks you should do it. Fight the dragon, I mean. And so do I; it's what your father said."

Luke made a growling noise from the back of his throat. He picked up a small stone and skipped it angrily across the river. The two could just make out the rock sinking in the dim light. "Why should I do what my father says? It's not like I owe him anything. Especially after how well he took care of me and Mom." He threw another stone and watched it skip.

"Seven. Eight. Nine," Annabeth counted aloud the times the rock skipped. "Wow, nine times! I wanna try!" she grabbed a stone and shakily got to her feet. Luke tried to guide her, but she pushed him away, insisting that she wanted to do it herself. Annabeth threw the stone and watched excitedly. to her disappointment, it only skipped twice before sinking.

"You'll get better," he assured her.

Annabeth sat down. "I don't like this game."

Like shrugged. "Suit yourself, spoilsport." He threw another like a Frisbee and watched in satisfaction as it skipped a total of eleven times. "Anyway," he said, picking up another. "It's not like I owe him anything. Hell, I don't even care about him."

"Yes you do."

Luke scowled again. "Did Thalia tell you that?"

"Nope." The girl did not need to elaborate any further. The smug smile on Annabeth's face spoke for her. She knew she was right.

Luke sighed. "Look, would I like my dad to come visit every now and then? Yes! Would I appreciate a little acknowledgement? Maybe even a bit of appreciation? Sure! But we both know that's never gonna happen."

Annabeth bit her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe that's why you should do it. Maybe if you fight the dragon, he'll see how awesome you really are. Because you are awesome."

Luke smiled again. This time it was not a forced half-smile, but a full out grin. He hugged Annabeth. "Thanks. I needed that. You're awesome too."

She smirked. "I know."

Luke laughed. He put his arm around her in an affectionate gesture, stroking her curly blonde hair. In the distance, the sunrise was visible through the thick foliage. "You know what? I don't care what he thinks. I have a new family now. Who needs them? From now on, the only ones who matter are you and Thalia."

Annabeth looked up. "Promise?"

"Yeah," there were tears in his eyes once again. Annabeth wasn't sure if they were of sadness or joy. "Yeah, I promise."

That had been four years ago, and, to her, knowledge, Luke had not shed a tear since that night. He had lived up to his promise, taking on a fatherly role, acting as the main provider for the trio. Grover had found them a short while later and had nearly reached camp when Thalia died. Even then, Luke did not cry.

Annabeth had found him in the Big House on the night they arrived. His back was to her and he stared at the fire place. Even without turning, he knew instantly that she was there. "Promise me something, will you, Annabeth?" his voice was hollow in sound, as if he no longer had any tears left to cry.

Annabeth nodded vigorously in response, trying to hold back her own tears.

"If there. . ." he swallowed. "If there ever comes a time when it's either you or me . . . save yourself, okay?"

"Alright."

"You mean though, right? I - I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Okay, Luke, I promise." Annabeth swore to herself at that moment should such an event occur, she'd find a way to save both of them.

Now, as she surveyed her friend crying in front of Thalia's pine, Annabeth was distraught. Her heart went out to Luke and she wanted to run up and comfort him. But it was no use; he would not see her, anyway. It was a dream. The first dream she had had about Camp Half-Blood in while.

"I wish you were here, Thalia," he whispered. "I need to talk to you now more than ever. You see, I'm about to do something huge. Something that might even be considered evil. But I need to do it. I think it's the only way. Nobody else understands. I tried to tell Annabeth but I couldn't." He stopped and began to cry. "I just couldn't!"

* * *

><p>Aleron Vaisey lay on his canopy bed, wide awake. It was not the first time the Slytherin had been having difficulty sleeping. In fact, for weeks, months even, it had happened so often that it had become like a regular occurrence. Urquhart had taken note of this, too, commenting on how his appearance was now strikingly similar to that of an inferi.<p>

In a way, Vaisey sort of liked the quiet hours. They gave him time to think, although this was not always a good thing. Lately, Aleron had been having a lot on his mind, some things he did not want to think about but found them oozing into his consciousness on sleep deprived-nights such as that one.

Vaisey stared at the page in his book. A man with a scraggly beard and tiny, beady eyes that moved back and forth in an eerie manner, sat in a simple, wooden chair. His expression was stoical and unreadable, like that of a corpse. Vaisey shuddered in spite of himself. He glanced at the picture's caption. _Grigori Rasputin, 1912._

Annabeth had recently guilted him into taking History of Magic seriously. Out of all of her requests, this one seemed to befuddle Vaisey the most. Professor Binns was, arguably, the most incompetent teacher the school ever had. Besides, who wanted to learn about the past? It was the present they were living in.

Still, the Ravenclaw had been persistent, stating that people needed to learn history as not to repeat its mistakes. What mistakes? Vaisey had made the mistake of voicing this question aloud, to which Annabeth responded with a forty minute lecture about tragic chain events. A lot of what she said revolved around the two "World Wars". Vaisey had confessed that he did not really know what they were (why should he? The wizard world had been busy with Grindelwald at the time,) and everything went downhill from there.

Annabeth had decided to partner up with Aleron for her History of Magic project on Rasputin and the Russian Revolution, which was why Vaisey was staring at a picture of the crazed man at two o'clock in the morning.

She spoke of her mixed feelings about the tsar and his family. About how the Jews were persecuted, how there had been many starving peasants in Russia and how Nicholas II had taken over the army which he knew next to nothing about.

At first, he had failed to understand the significance of this man and why he had such a big impact. Okay, so he led to the death of one muggle family, so what? Not that killing muggles was good or anything, he hastened to add, but why did it matter so much? Muggle families were killed all the time and most people, magical or not, didn't seem to give a damn, which is why there had only been two World Wars (although Annabeth claimed it was really the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that set off the war) Annabeth had described it as being similar to the assassination of the Minister of Magic, and Vaisey had replied that would be just fine by him.

"Stop it," she had said. "This isn't funny. You, of all people, should be sensitive to the death of a child!"

That had struck a nerve and had noticeably upset the boy. Still, it was effective and he worked the rest of the afternoon without a fuss.

Vaisey looked again in the book. On the next page was another photograph. This one, unlike the picture of Rasputin, did not move. That was became it was taken by a muggle camera, he realized. The photo was of five children, four girls in fancy white dresses, all appearing to be somewhere in their teens, and a boy who look considerably younger. The children were all squinting, as if the sun was in their eyes. The caption said: _(From left to right): Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia, and Tzarevich Alexei Romanov, 1916._

Yawning, Aleron put the book down. He would see more of it tomorrow. Turning over in bed, he closed his eyes and rested his head on the pillow. He was not the only one to do so. Annabeth snapped out of her dream as well. And up in the Gryffindor dorm, a boy named Harry Potter, for the third time that week, woke up with a start.

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><p><strong>Yes, I realize this chapter was a bit slow. I need some time to pass by so that I can line up the major events with the Harry Potter books. As usual, comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism is welcome. <strong>

**Harry Potter Fact: There was an outbreak of lice among the case of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.**

**Random Fact: Sir James Matthew (J.M.) Barrie, the author of _Peter Pan_, was ambidextrous, infertile, and coined the name "Wendy."**

**To all you Americans, happy Thanksgiving, to everybody else . . .er, happy Wednesday (or Thursday, depending on where you live in the world.)**


	42. Chapter 42

**Norway_Fan_39: Thank you**

**Maximum Immortality: You too, although I guess it's rather late. **

**Guest: Good point. And I agree to some extent on Harry's personality. It should be noted, however, that during the fifth book he acted different in s moody teenager-like way. I guess Vaisey and Zeller just caught him in a bad mood. But to be fair, Harry was dealing with a lot at the time!**

**Annabeth Chase child of wisdom: Thank you. I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I have every intention of finishing this fic, so have no fear! **

**Liana_Ramsay: Thanks, that was one of most fun things about writing this. I often had to keep like four windows open with different timelines just to make sure I got the date right! Anyway, I'm glad you like it.**

**Leo_Hazel_Forever: Yes, the caps definitely caught my attention. Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad you like it so much.**

**Guest: As stated previously, I intend to finish this story and tie up all the loose ends that are hanging. I apologize for ending with a cliff-hanger for such a long time.**

**a/n: One of these days I'm going to get smart and just work on one story at once. That day is not today.**

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><p>"So what are you going to do? About the letter, I mean," asked Aleron, playing with his paper bird.<p>

Annabeth paced back and forth across the Room of Requirement, furiously fidgeting with anything she could get her hands on. "I don't know. But I can't let her read it. Other than the fact that it's against my rights, the letters honestly contain stuff that I'm not so comfortable sharing with her."

"What are you going to do?" Harper said, petting Canis from across the room. "Break into her office?"

"Oh, please! She's not a Gryffindor!" Harper and Vaisey high-fived.

"Guys, stop it. I'm trying to concentrate. Umbridge has read, or is going to read my private mail. I don't care if she works for the Ministry, there must be some law against doing that."

Theodore Nott looked up from his copy of _The Daily Prophet_ and said, "You don't seem to understand, Chase. For all intents and purposes, Umbridge _is_ the law. Still, I wouldn't worry if I were you too much. The toad's going to get a major distraction soon, so you're not too pressed for time or anything."

The other three jumped. "How long have you been in here?"

"Me? I don't know. A while. Longer than you guys, anyway. I like it better here than in my own Common Room, everyone avoids me like the plague there. Besides, I don't see how that's any of your business."

"You mentioned a distraction," Annabeth prompted, "what did you mean by that?"

Nott shrugged, looking rather uncomfortable, as if wishing he hadn't said anything. "I can't be sure exactly, but let's put it this way: we're not the only ones using this room."

"What are you talking about?" asked Annabeth. Had someone been using the room and Theodore had kept it a secret from them?

"It's Potter, isn't it?" Vaisey pipped up. "It has to be Potter. I ran into him on this floor a while ago . . . and . . . and, well come on, it's Potter. Does there even NEED to be a reason?"

Harper nodded. It would make sense. It had seemed that Potter and his friends had been organizing something

Nott shrugged enigmatically. Annabeth was sure that half of the time Nott didn't even know what he was talking about. It annoyed her to no end. Still, she had bigger issues at the moment. "No matter what, I can't have her read my mail. Do you guys understand?"

"Why? What's in there?"

Annabeth turned to glare at Vaisey, who immediately shrunk back. "Does that matter?"

"Actually, Chase," said Harper, "it does. If we're going to help you -and I'm not saying we are, then we have a right to know what we're helping you with."

"Okay, you're not even supposed to _be_ here! So why don't you just shut up?"

Annabeth sighed. "Forget it. I can figure this out on my own."

"Okay," Nott said, "I guess you won't be wanting this then." He casually held out a what have been the thickest book Annabeth had ever seen. It was titled, _Advanced Wizard Law of the Western Hemisphere Volume 683_. That by itself would have been an unbelievable coincidence, but there was something more: the book was in Greek.

"Where did you find that?" she demanded, snatching it from Theodore's hands.

"I already told you. It's the Room of Requirement. It gives you anything you need. I mean, except live animals or people. Or food. Or water. Or one of a kind objects unless specifically put in here. Or a bunch of other things. But, whatever. There's the book."

Annabeth examined it. The book had to be at a thousand pages long, and there was no index! How was she going to find what she needed in time?

Nott, as if reading her mind, said, "The bookmark."

"What?"

"Look, see that ribbon? The room put it there for your use. I'd say there's a good chance that it's the page you're looking for."

Annabeth was skeptical but she opened it anyway, surprised to find that Theodore was right. Immediately, she began reading the page.

_If an American citizen chooses to go abroad for magical education, he or she is expected to follow the laws of his or her native country and that of his choice, respectively. The only exception occurs if a situation comes up where the laws of the country contradict those of the American Ministry of Magic in Philadelphia_. Philadelphia? Annabeth wondered. Well, to be fair, that's where the American capital was located before Washington D.C. if the American wizards were anything like the UK ones, they would be too stubborn to change.

She looked back at the excerpt. The rule sounded just like the kind of ridiculous backwards law a magical society would make. Still, Annabeth was never happier to see something of the sort. A highlighter conveniently appeared in her hand and Annabeth highlighted the section. She skipped a few pages, before settling on another passage. _The American Ministry of Magic states that citizens have certain unalienable rights, many of which mirror those found in the American Constitution, including the five freedom amendment. Freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly, and religion. Students visiting abroad are still entitled to said amendment as long as it is not interfering with their school work._

_"_This is perfect!" she exclaimed. "I have freedom of press. That means she has to give me back my letter!" She was practically shaking with excitement. Would it work? She hope so. It _had_ to work.

Annabeth gathered up her stuff and ran out of the Room of Requirement down a couple of corridors, up some flights of stairs, and a few sharp corners. She had nearly reached Umbridge's office when someone running the other way, smacked right into her.

"Sorry," Annabeth mumbled.

"You should watch where you're going!" the girl hissed angrily. She appeared to be around her sixth year and had a head full of strawberry blond ringlets. Annabeth recognized her from the Ravenclaw table, although she could not recall the girl's name.

The girl gathered her things up in a hurry before storming into Professor Umbridge's office.

"Ah," said the Professor, inviting her in, "how lovely to see you, Marietta Edgecombe . . . "

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><p><strong>Harry Potter fact: Throughout the Harry Potter series, there were a total of 199 chapters, 3363 pages, and 1090739 words. The movies add up to 17 hours and 13 minutes.<strong>

**Random fact: Stray dogs in Moscow, Russia are known for their intelligence. The dogs have learned to travel their territories via subway by recognizing distinct smells and recorded voices. They also send out the smallest, cutest-looking dog in their group to beg for food from humans.**

**Please review!**


	43. Chapter 43

**cream_the_rabbit_77: Thank you!**

**Emmagination: I'm so glad you like them. As I've mentioned before, I have a thing for random facts. This fix is one of the few places where I can put them with out being "socially inappropriate."**

**cookie_lover_1441_peace: Thanks!**

**Yay, another chapter! **

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><p>"Fine, then," Annabeth mumbled to herself as the door closed behind Umbridge and Marietta. "I'll just wait here then."<p>

She paced in front of the room, checking her watch every thirty seconds to see how much time had passed. She sighed dramatically and leaned against the door, not bothering to think of the fact that once it opened she would fall back.

In an attempt to distract herself further, Annabeth glanced at the mosaic on the ceiling. It looked relatively new, perhaps coming into being around the sixteen hundreds or so. Come to think of it, the mosaic really was stunning. Maybe she could run back to her dorm and grab her sketch book . . . no, she couldn't risk it. What if they finished just as she left? It was better to just wait.

Feeling rather fidgety, Annabeth stuck her hands into the pockets of her robes. As expected, her bronze knife and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder were in the right pocket . . . but what was in her left? Annabeth didn't remember putting anything inside her left pocket. Curiously, she pulled it out. It was a navy blue Yankees cap. _Ooookaay._ Well, that made absolutely not sense whatsoever.

Tapped to the inside of the hat was a note written in Ancient Greek. Annabeth glanced at the neat, cursive letters. She didn't recognize the handwriting. Her heart pounding, she read through it.

_Dear Annabeth,_

_I give you this hat as a late late birthday present. Be careful when using it, as it is irreplaceable. Good luck. _

_Athena_

Her mother had sent her a hat for a birthday present? But Athena _never_ gave her children birthday presents! And why a _hat_ of all things? Surely it must have had some sort of magical property, but what that was, she had absolutely no clue. It didn't make any sense. Why-

"Excuse me, Miss," squeaked a voice.

Annabeth jumped, immediately snapping back into reality. "Who said that?"

"Down here, Miss." The Ravenclaw glanced down and immediately dropped her book and reached into her pocket from her knife: a small creature, about two and a half feet tall, stood before her. It had enormous ears and frighteningly disproportionately large eyes. It wore an outfit that consisted of oddly mismatched clothing, several hats, and an extra sock on its ear. It carried a large tea tray with pink china.

"Dobby does not mean to interrupt you, Miss, but Dobby is needing to enter the Professor's office to deliver to the Professor afternoon tea."

_'Dobby' needs to use pronouns,_ thought Annabeth. Could it be a monster? The creature didn't look like any that she recognized from her lessons at camp, but that didn't guarantee it was safe. She pulled out the dagger and looked the creature straight in the eye. "_Monster?_" she asked in Greek.

The creature appeared indignant now. "Dobby is not a monster! Dobby is a house elf - a_ free_ house elf!"

Annabeth mentally slapped herself. A house elf, of _course! _Well, now she felt incredibly stupid. With extreme awkwardness, Annabeth put the bronze dagger back into her robes, forcing an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that."

The house elf didn't seem to notice, rather he was preoccupied with trying open the door. Annabeth watched for a while as the creature tried repeatedly to reach the doorknob by balancing the tea tray on his head and jumping up and down. It was rather pathetic. Eventually, Annabeth pitied him enough to open the door before bending down to grab the book, only to notice that it was gone as if having vanished into thin air.

"Hey, where'd it go?"

"Books that appear in the Room of Requirement only exist outside of the room if they are being touched by the person who took them out, Miss. Objects from the room are not meant to exist outside of the room. If the person is letting go of one of such objects, Miss, the book returns to the room."

"How did you . . . ?"

But Dobby had already run into the office. After about three seconds there was a loud crash followed by a scream, and Dobby ran out into the hall, his arms flailing in terror.

Without thinking, Annabeth pounced on him, grabbing the elf by his neon pink shirt. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Dobby has to warn Harry Potter! Harry Potter and his friends are in danger!"

"Danger?" she repeated. "What kind of danger?"

"Let me go, Miss! Dobby needs to warn Harry Potter right away. There is no time to lose!"

Reluctantly, Annabeth released her grip and watched the little creature scurry off. Almost immediately after, the door to Umbridge's office opened.

"Now, now, Marietta. It doesn't look_ that_ bad. Really."

The response was a few nearly surprised sniffles.

"Okay, that's enough. I will not have you crying over such a petty matter. I'll reverse it later. Right now there are bigger matters to settle. You said the seventh floor, right? Good. I will send for them right away."

Amazingly, the two had yet to notice Annabeth observing them from behind a potted plant. She didn't know what was going on, but knowing Umbridge, it couldn't be anything good. And the seventh floor . . . that's where the Room of Requirement was. Were her friends still there? What if they ran into Umbridge? Nott had mentioned that they weren't the only ones using the room, and both Harper and Dobby had mentioned Potter. Why did it seem that every story was centered around him? It was like Potter was some sort of magnet for attention. Either way, it wasn't in her character to just stand around and wait for things to fix themselves. No, she had to find out. Still, she couldn't just follow them. Umbridge would know that something was up right away, and by the sound of it she was bringing reinforcements. There had to be a way she could follow them but remain undetected.

Annabeth began to fidget nervously, rummaging through her pockets in search of something useful. She came across the same things she had found before: the powder, the knife, and the stupid Yankees cap. Annabeth pulled out the cap and examined it. She still stood by her earlier thought on it having some sort of hidden power. The obvious thing to do was try it on.

Doing so, Annabeth caught a glimpse of her reflection in a hallway mirror, or rather, her lack of reflection. Could it be? An invisibility cap? The timing was certainly convenient, that was for sure. But there was no time to dwell on it now. She had to get to the seventh floor.

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><p>Never before had Chase been so grateful for the obstacle courses she had been forced to run at Camp Half-Blood. She had just run up several flights of stairs to the seventh floor, narrowly missing a couple of fifth-year Slytherins, all with one hand tightly gripping her cap to her head.<p>

Annabeth skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding a Gryffindor boy tripping right in front of her.

"AAARGH!" the boy cried.

Annabeth heard a sort of mocking laughter coming from the side. She turned to the face the source of voice and saw none other than the Malfoy boy Vaisey had pointed out.

"Trip jinx, Potter! Hey, Professor- -PROFESSOR! I've got one!"

Umbridge ran up to them, grinning enthusiastically. "It's him! Excellent. Draco, excellent, oh, very good- -fifty points to Slytherin! I'll take it from here . . . Stand up, Potter!" Potter obeyed and got to his feet, giving the two the death glare. "You hop along and see if you can round up anymore of them, Draco," she said. "Tell the others to look in the library- -anybody out of breath- -check the bathrooms- -Miss Parkinson can do the girls' ones- -off you go- -and you," she added looking at Potter in a way that made Annabeth instinctively shudder. "You can come with me to the headmaster's office, Potter."

_The headmaster?_ Well that didn't seem _too_ bad at least. Dumbledore would be sympathetic to Potter.

Satisfied with this conclusion, Annabeth ran after Malfoy. It didn't matter what those kids were doing. If Umbridge got to them, their punishments would not be fit for a serial killer.

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><p><strong>Harry Potter fact: Ron Weasley's character swore a lot in the original drafts of <em>Harry Potter<em>. Rowling's publisher made her censor his language because he was worried that Weasley would set a bad example for young readers. (It didn't work. At age seven, I learned the phrase, "bloody hell.")**

**Random fact: The only Romanov member to survive the 1918 shooting was Alexei, the youngest boy's, dog Joy. The spaniel was found blind and half starved by White Army troops several days later and lived out the rest of her life in Windsor. Contrary to popular belief, the bodies of Anastasia, the missing Duchess (although it may have been her sister Marie) and Alexei were found in 2007 and identified in 2008. Their bodies were missing from the other grave which was dug up in 1991. **

**Bonus PJO fact: A new Percy Jackson movie, this one on The Sea of Monsters, is set to be released this August. The actress who played Annabeth dyed her hair blond for filming.**


	44. Chapter 44

**Thank you to cream_the_rabbit_77 and percy_jackson_fan_135 for reviewing**

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><p>Annabeth ran into the seventh floor girls' bathroom. It was empty save for redhead girl who stood panting in the corner.<p>

"Get out!" Annabeth screamed.

The girl jumped and looked around for the source of the voice. It took Annabeth a moment to figure out why the girl was confused. Of _course,_ she was still wearing the cap!

"You heard me, get out! Umbridge is onto you. She sent Parkinson to look in the girls' bathrooms for people out of breath, so RUN!"

"But who . . . ?"

"That doesn't matter, just get out!"

The girl nodded vigorously and dashed out the door. "Tell the others to hide!" she called after her.

Where to next? the first year wondered as she exited the bathroom. She dashed down the hall and almost ran straight into a pair of Hufflepuff who looked like they were running for their dear lives. A mere few strides behind them was Blaise Zabini. Annabeth held out her invisible foot and tripped him, allowing the two others to escape.

"What the-" Zabini said, apparently confused that he tripped over nothing. He stood up and dusted off his robes, taking a glance at the two kids in the distance. "Oh well," he said, shrugging. "There's no way I can reach them now. At least I tried." And with that, walked off in the other direction, seemingly satisfied with his feeble efforts. His complete lack of loyalty, even for something so horrible, annoyed Annabeth greatly. But there was no time to dwell on it now. She took to the other direction where a group of five or six more kids were trying to outrun a pair of bulky Slytherin boys.

"OH NO!" she shouted. "THEY'VE FOUND ME!"

Her distraction worked: the two boys glanced confusedly in her direction as Annabeth reached into her pocket and pulled out her Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Annabeth felt a pair of meaty hand grab her just as she threw the power onto the ground. As soon as everything went black, Annabeth was able to squirm out of the boy's grip, which had lightened significantly in all of the chaos.

_Well_, she thought, running away. _I've done more than my part. I'm done here._

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><p>"No! No! No!" Vaisey screamed upon seeing the Hogwarts bulletin board on the way to breakfast. "Oh, sweet Merlin, NO!"<p>

"What's it say?" asked Rose, sidling up to him. He pointed and she let out a wail in despair.

Annabeth didn't feel like pushing through a bunch of students, so instead she just tapped one on the shoulder and asked what was going on. "You didn't hear?" he asked. She shook her head, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Dumbledore's gone! Umbridge is taking over as headmaster."

Chase was in too much shock to even correct the boy by saying that the proper term was headmistress. "But . . . but why? Why her? Why not McGongall? She's Deputy Mistress, isn't she?"

The boy shook his head in disbelief. "Who cared how it happened. The point is, it happened. Oh god, here she comes!" he ducked his head and ran.

"Lovely day, isn't it, Chase?" said Umbridge, smiling sweetly at Annabeth who nodded very slowly in response. Annabeth shot the Professor a smile that she was careful to make sure didn't appear sarcastic.

"You'll behave yourself, won't you, dear?"

"Of course."

"No more little outbursts, then?"

"None, ma'am."

Umbridge squinted her eyes and surveyed the girl as if trying to detect the sarcasm in her voice, but found none. "Very well, then. Go on and eat your breakfast."

She nodded and stepped into the Great Hall. Throughout the entire meal, Umbridge sat in the Head's seat as if it were a throne. The toad's eyes switched between two students and two students only: her and Harry Potter. What could that boy have done to make the headmaster leave? Perhaps Dumbledore had decided the school was a lost cause and simply taken off. It seemed out of character for him to abandon his students, though. So then what was going on?

"What's going to happen now?" she asked Goldstein quietly.

The prefect's reply was quite matter-of-fact. "Hell."

* * *

><p>Anthony turned out to be quite right in his prediction. The days leading up to Easter Break were some of the worst of Annabeth's life. Every minute seemed like an hour, every hour seemed like a week, and every day seemed like an eternity.<p>

"_You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze, _I still have no idea what this one means. A maze can be metaphorical, I guess. So maybe it's referring to a series of challenges, like this school for instance."

"Seems plausible," said Nott.

The two of them were sitting in the Room of Requirement going over the sheet of parchment that Annabeth had nearly forgotten.

_The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. _Well, Vaisey's sister died, didn't she? Maybe it has something to do with her." Nott shrugged, but looked doubtful. "Okay, probably not. But we should still examine the possibility. The traitor, that would be Marietta whatshername. She told Umbridge about Dumbldore's Army, which means that part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled. The last one is tricky, though. The word 'lost' has many definitions.

_"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,_

_The Child of Athena's final stand_

_Destroy with a hero's final breath,_

_And lose a love to worse than death." _

"I'm guessing the rest is self-explanatory?"

"N-no!" she said quickly. "Not necessarily. There could be-"

Theodore pulled the paper from Annabeth's hands and squinted at the writing. "Are you sure that the first line says 'maze'?"

"Yes, quite," she snapped, snatching back the parchment from Nott's hands.

"Really? Because it looks like there's another . . . "

"Stop being annoying, already. This is serious business." Annabeth tapped her fingers on the coffee table, stopping short when she caught sight of a book about Rasptin. "The ghost king! That's it!"

"What's it?"

"Alexei Romanov was supposed to be the Tsar of Russia, which is basically a king, but he died first. Maybe **he's** the ghost king."

Nott shook his head. "Only wizards can become ghosts."

"Well, it doesn't have to mean he's an actual ghost. It could just mean that he's dead. A ghost could also be metaphorical for a shadow of some sort. Maybe Alexei felt that he was in his father's shadow?" she sounded as if she were beginning to doubt herself.

"No. Think about it, Chase. How are you supposed to rise or fall by his hand if the kid's not even a real ghost? Face it, it doesn't make any sense. Have you got any other theories?"

"Well, a few . . . but none of them really make that much sense." She looked at her watch. "It's late. I'm going to bed. You?"

"I think I'll stay a few more minutes. I have O. to study for. Be care, Umbridge is guarding all of the halls on this corridor after what happened with Potter."

"Don't worry," said Annabeth, patting her pocket that held the Yankee cap. "I will be."

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><p><strong>HP fact: J.K. Rowling didn't kill Hagrid only so that she could have the scene where Hagrid thinks he is carrying Harry's dead body. <strong>

**Random Fact: A dog's nose is as unique as a human fingerprint and can be used for identification.**

**Please review! I'm thinking about adding a picture to accompany this story. I am thinking of putting one of Alexei Romanov or something. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?**


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